A Hero's Rebirth
by TheSkyBreakerV1
Summary: A defeat at the hands of an ancient foe, along with an ill-timed wish, has sent the son of Goku spiraling into a whole new world which he knows nothing about. Will Gohan be able to navigate back to his own world or has fate chosen a new path for him in the world of the Avatar? Cover image by DeviantArt artist: asin-ka
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball,** **Dragon Ball Z,** **Dragon Ball GT,** **Dragon Ball Z Kai, Dragon Ball Super, or any of the ideas or characters in them. All rights belong to Toei Animation and Akira Toriyama. I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, or any of the ideas and characters in them. All rights belong to Nickelodeon, Micheal Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko.**

 **Prologue**

"HAAAA!" Two voices yelled out in unison. An explosion rang out through the cityscape of Gingertown as rocks flew from their original buildings and up into the air above the two fighters.

Gohan, in his base form, was pushed back into a building top as the explosion died down. He was wearing his signature gi given to him by Piccolo, which was unfortunately torn apart in many places, but still somehow remained intact. The young teen gritted his teeth as he stumbled backward, but quickly righted himself. He looks back up in the air and stared off against his adversary.

Said adversary was currently in the air, smirking down at the half-Saiyan. "Don't tell me that's all you've got, boy. Is that the best of your power?" The purple-skinned warrior questioned from above. He was known as Kogu, a member of the space pirate Bojack's crew.

Gohan only scowled, but his attention was then diverted from the opponent in front of him to another battle taking place off into the distance. He saw the awesome power being put out by Vegeta, in all of his Super Saiyan glory, and Bojack himself.

It had been three years since the end of the Cell Games, but Vegeta's power had increased exponentially during that time. Gohan might even say that his power could have matched his own, or even eclipsed it. But, deep down, he could tell that fight was one-sided. And it was not in Vegeta's favor.

A low chuckle reached his ears and he turned his attention back to Kogu, who could see that he was worried for Vegeta. "Don't worry boy. You shouldn't, really. The two of you will be joining each other in a few moments," the statement came out as confident as one could make.

Gohan relaxed his stance and gave him a smirk in return. Kogu uncrossed his arms as it was now his turn to scowl. "I take it you think your death will be funny," he said with cockiness.

The son of Goku clenched his fists, widened his legs, and hardened his facial features. "No, it's not. And for your information, I have no intention of dying or letting you hurt anyone else!"

With that declaration, he ascended to the legendary transformation of the Saiyan race: A Super Saiyan. His hair spiked up slightly and went from jet black to brilliant gold, along with his eyes shifting from obsidian to teal. His aura exploded outward, pushing the space pirate back enough to catch him off guard.

Kogu growled and pulled out his sword from his sheath. "Why you little brat!" He charged straight at Gohan, intent on slicing his head off with one fell swoop. His arm with the sword in hand reached backward and ripped through the air as it was brought forward by its wielder.

Only for the Super Saiyan to block it...with his forearm!

Gohan then put more force into the center of the sword where it had struck his arm, and shattered it completely, earning him a gasp of surprise from his opponent. "Wha- but how did-UGH!" Before he could get another word of surprise out, a fist was driven deep into his abdomen. Massive pain was the last thing the pirate felt before he was knocked unconscious by a strike to the head.

Gohan watched as he fell to the ground below the building he stood on. He shook his head, mostly at himself. If he had just transformed from the beginning, it wouldn't have been such a pain to get through him.

He then turned his attention to the battle he was distracted with earlier. Gohan looked on with concern. One quick check of Vegeta's ki revealed he was running low on reserves. "Oh man, I've gotta help him. He won't last much longer at this rate." Releasing his aura, he blasted off the top of the building to hopefully turn the tables of this struggle to their favor.

Another explosion in that direction forced him to halt his flight and widened his eyes in alarm, as he saw the prince rocketing towards him at breakneck speed. Fortunately, Gohan was able to catch him with both arms.

Vegeta didn't look so good. His armor was torn from the top and he had bruises everywhere. He made a noise resembling that of a groan of pain as the toll of the battle was starting to catch up to him. Not that the Prince would ever admit it to anyone though.

But still, the half-Saiyan still felt obliged to ask him anyways. "Vegeta, all you alright?" His voice seemed to snap Vegeta out of his own little world that he was in. Taking one look at who had caught him, he snarled.

Vegeta used one arm to shove Gohan from him and stabilized himself in the air. "Don't patronize me, brat. And stay out of my way," he commanded.

Gohan scratched his head in confusion. "But Vegeta, you were the one who ran into me," he stated, earning him another growl from Vegeta, but didn't care to reply.

"I hope you two are done with your banter," Gohan and Vegeta whip their head to see Bojack instantly appear across them. "Because you have much bigger things to worry about."

Gohan readied himself, but next to him, Vegeta scoffed. "Please, if anything, you're the one who should be worried now," he declares as he readies himself as well. Bojack raised an eyebrow but doesn't respond to that claim. Instead, he turned his gaze over to Gohan.

Bojack smirked. "Well, it seems like you were able to dispose of my minion. I must congratulate you for that," he said to Gohan in a malicious way. Gohan said nothing as he maintained a neutral face.

The space pirate then frowned as he turned his sight over to where Kogu had fallen, buried beneath a rubble of rock and concrete. "Kogu has failed me considerably and showed weakness," he said ominously. A shining light appeared in his hand, and pulled his arm back, seemingly ready to fire the first shot at the two Saiyans. "And that makes him expendable!" Bojack thrusted his arm and fired the blast past the Super Saiyans and into the concrete jungle below.

Gohan gasped and turns his head slightly behind him, to see Kogu's body reduced to a pile of ash, the blast striking him right on. Once again, a deafening explosion rings throughout the landscape as the blast detonated. The silent breeze that had occupied the city-turned-battlefield became gale force winds.

He growled and turned back to Bojack. "You monster! That was your soldier! How could you kill him like that?" Not seeking an answer from him, Gohan powered up his aura and charged at Bojack, ready to commence their battle.

Vegeta looked on, shocked to see Gohan power up even further. "Grr, that idiot!" He released his own aura and charged at Bojack as well.

Bojack only kept a smirk on his face, not taking any measure to defend himself, keeping his arms relaxed at his sides. Gohan paid no heed to that and cocked his fist back. But before he could drive his fist, a horrible sensation overcame him. His aura fading, he found that he couldn't move one bit.

Gohan struggled to fight it, but to no avail. "Grr, what...what did...you do to me?" Bojack laughed and looked down below the fighters.

A small, chubby looking figure and a similarly dressed figure with a goatee rose up from below and met their leader at both sides. Their hands were extended outwards, blue tethers of energy extending out from their fingers and attaching themselves to Gohan as if he were trapped in a spider web.

Bojack cranes his neck towards them and smirked. "Good work, Bujin and Bido. I assume you followed my orders and took care of the human and the Namekian?" Bujin and Bido simply bowed to him with some smile as obedient servants would, which was all Bojack needed to have his question answered.

Gohan took a sharp inhale of air in shock. "No-no way...Krillin...PICCOLO!" His anger began to bubble at the mere thought of his mentor's defeat. He slowly curled his fists, wanting to make them pay. If they got through them...then that meant they were able to acquire the...NO!

The space pirate returned his gaze back to the stationary Saiyan, not caring about his internal struggle. "It seems I have some time before Zangya takes care of the third-eye warrior and appears with our prize," he stated. Gohan gritted his teeth, trying to bring out power that was escaping him for some reason.

Then, a familiar voice made itself known. "Behind you fool!"

Without even looking, Bojack grabbed Vegeta's fist from behind, surprising the Prince. "What?!" Without responding, Bojack, with Vegeta's fist still in hand, flinged him towards the city below at a speed too much for Vegeta. In an instant, Bojack reappeared next to the building where he was going to collide with and drove a knee into the Saiyan's abdomen.

Vegeta howled in pain before being cast off into the streets of the city, his golden locks returning to the natural black as his Super Saiyan form faded. The purple-skinned pirate leader then reappeared in front of Gohan, who was still struggling with the paralysis Bujin had placed on him.

What was even worse was that the demi-Saiyan was losing energy. And _fast_. Gohan struggled to even get out words. "Vegeta...gr-no." Bojack laughed at his current predicament, earning him another growl from Gohan.

"What's wrong brat? Weren't you going to stop me?" Before Gohan could even form a response, Bojack thrusted his fist deep into Gohan's abdomen and twisted it for extra measure. "Because I remember all too wearily how many times you've told me that," he cackled.

Deep in pain, Gohan coughed up blood violently. "GAH!" Before he knew it, a barrage of fists and kicks were being landed on him without Gohan being able to put up a defense for himself. A left hook to his left cheek made his head snap over to the side, earning him another ugly bruise. At Gohan's side, Bujin and Bido kept their concentration in keeping him paralyzed and made sure he stayed in place.

Another blow to the solar plexus made him feel a bone shatter inside him. _'GAH...I-I don't know how much mo-more I can take!'_ At that thought, his ki reserves reached a new low and his Super Saiyan state escaped him, now reverting to his base form. All the while, Bojack did not appear he would stop his relentless assault on the boy, raining blow upon blow on him.

Suddenly, he stopped and created some space between the two, turning to face the other direction. Gohan simply panted, temporarily relieved the pirate had ended his onslaught. However, in the distance, he saw a figure fast approaching. A female warrior with long, curly orange hair came into view and halted in front of Bojack, carrying a small duffel bag in her arms that had a knot around it to keep whatever was in it from falling out and another smaller bag.

Bojack smirked. "Good work Zangya. Well done," he complimented as he was handed the small bag.

Zangya gave a small bow. "It was my pleasure, my master," she said, casting a sideways glance over to the Saiyan who was still struggling to keep his eyes open. "It only feels right to gain such a great reward after all of your hard work," she said to him.

She then gestured over to the smaller bag in her other hand. "I was also able to snatch these from the baldy. I'm not sure what they are, but he was keeping them close to him, so it must be important," she said, tying the small bag on her belt.

Gohan's eyes widened. _'She stole the sensu beans from Tien?!'_

Bojack, nodding, looked at the knot of the bag and his eyes flashed. The knot undid itself, revealing 7 shiny orange globes. He let out a dark chuckle and shifted his gaze back to Gohan. "You know, we could make this much more interesting," he began.

Zangya looked at him, wondering what he had planned. "How so, master?"

Bojack closed his eyes and reopened them, his cold smirk never leaving his face. "Do you recall when we besieged the planet of the Clorfors?" When her eyes widened, presumably in realization of what he was asking, he continued. "I want you to place the same seal on him as you did with their king. That way, he can watch helplessly as I have my wish granted before his eyes." he revealed.

But it seemed like his female servant looked unsure of his plan, which Bojack caught. "Hm? Is there something wrong?" he asked, which came out more like a demand.

Zangya spoke. "Well, I'd be happy to do that, but...wouldn't it be easier to just do away with him right away? He is of no threat to us as you know already," she said nervously, not wanting to spark her master's anger.

She waited in dread as he kept silent for a few second before hearing him chuckle under his breathe. "Of course, it would be easier. But I want to savor this victory," he said while craning his head to look at the still-struggling Gohan. "After all, it has been over a thousand years since I've been able to witness such a defeated look on my opponents," he told her.

Meanwhile, Gohan was listening to their conversation and was not looking forward to what they were talking about. _'Oh no, I can't let them use the dragon balls! I have to find a way to get out of this...but_ _how?'_ His thoughts were interrupted when a small ki blast struck his shoulder, eliciting another groan of pain. "GAH!" The part of his shirt where it struck was burned instantly and blood began to drip from his shoulder.

He looked up to see the smirks of both pirates, causing an uneasy feeling to swell within his gut. His eyes, however, displayed the same ferocity as before. "You-you...monsters! You...won't g-get away with th-this!"

Bojack laughed and held up a hand with the dragon balls in his palm, neatly arranged into a pyramid. "Oh Gohan, but I already have," he declared. Not taking his gaze off of him, the pirate addressed his female servant. "Zangya, you know what to do!" Behind him, she emerged with her arms put out in front of her with a red aura surrounding both of them.

"HAH!" She yelled out. Gohan was then encased in a small, blood red sphere of energy, but it didn't seem like it was doing anything to him, as far as he could tell. But when she pulled her arms back, the sphere suddenly enclosed around his frame before entering his body. Red sparks of lightning erupted from his skin, and his energy dropped to critical levels.

But the pain was unimaginable. No fight, whether it was against Nappa, Recoome, Freeza, or Cell ever made him burn this way. "GAAAHH!" It went on like this for a few more seconds before Gohan fell unconscious, no longer able to keep his focus going. The electricity surrounding his body disappeared and the light faded away.

Bojack, satisfied with his minion's work, gave a curt nod to both Bujin and Bido, who were still keeping Gohan paralyzed and stationary. "Alright you two, that's enough. Let him fall into the abyss below, he's no threat to us anymore," he commanded. They did as they were told, releasing the slightly visible blue energy tethers from the Saiyan's body, causing him to descend to the city streets below them.

The four pirates then blasted off, leaving the now-destroyed Gingertown and their enemies behind. They did not go far however and landed on a plateau right next to the city.

Bojack placed the dragon balls on the ground, wanting to waste no time at all. Zangya then stepped in front of the four. "Allow me master," she requested. Their leader nodded and motioned for her to summon the dragon.

Bringing her arms out, she initiated the call. "Come forth, Dragon, and grant our wish!" The dragon balls glowed a few times before a giant beam of light burst forth from the orbs, forcing everyone to shield themselves from the brightness. The sky turned dark and the pillar of light eventually bended and curved to become the shape of the Eternal Dragon, Shenron.

A low growl escaped the mouth of the dragon. **"YOU WHO HAVE SUMMONED ME! SPEAK NOW AND I SHALL GRANT YOU TWO WISHES!"** The dragon boomed, its voice reaching all throughout the landscape.

Momentarily surprised he could get two wishes instead of one, Bojack's face erupted into an evil grin. He spread his arms out and cackled with pure malice. "Yes! Dragon! I, Bojack the Conqueror, demand that you grant me-," before he could finish his request, a boulder smacked the side of his face. Although he felt no pain from that, it still distracted him enough to stop talking.

His expression now livid, he whipped his body around to where it had come from. He then scowled when a very worn out Gohan, on the Nimbus cloud and sensu beans in hand, came into his field of view.

Beside the space pirate, Bido spoke up first. "What?! But how?" he asked rhetorically.

"How did you sneak up on us?!" Zangya demanded, cursing herself for dropping her guard and letting him take the bag tied around her belt.

Gohan, still panting, gritted his teeth. "I *huff* told you, I will never let you get away with this!" he yelled, more at Bojack than anyone else.

Bojack snarled with rage and clenched his fist. "Foolish boy! You just don't know when to sit down, do you?! Ever since I arrived on this planet, you've been blocking me every step of the way," he said with disdain, rage clouding his mind. "I wish you would just damn yourself to a place where you could never cross my path and no one could find you!"

He charged a ki blast in his hand, ready to end the boy's existence. "Which I think is a fate far less deserving and far more lenient than what you should-," he stopped mid-sentence, realizing what he had just said. Gohan's eyes widened as well and they both snapped their heads over to the dragon, whose eyes were now glowing red.

Shenron growled once more. **"AS YOU WISH, SO IT SHALL BE."** His eyes glowed to an even brighter red, preparing to execute the wish requested.

And with that said, Gohan, along with the Nimbus cloud, were blanketed in a white light before vanishing completely.

* * *

 **Hey guys I'm back! And with a new story too? I've been wanting to try this story for about a year now and even though I know the whole 'Gohan gets transported to some other world' is a trope in the crossover sections for DBZ, it's still a cool concept to toy around with and well...I ended up writing 10 whole chapters so I could get this out of my head.**

 **And for those of you still waiting on the new chapter for Escape...you won't have to wait much longer, I can tell you that much.**

 **So what did you think of this little prologue? I chose an AU type of setting where Bojack invades Earth a few years after the Cell Games and not right after it like we saw in that glorious movie. I know that I chose an unusual way to start out a story, but I promise you that more about how Bojack came to Earth will be revealed down the line.**

 **But the real question is...what did Bojack do to Gohan?**

 **Leave your thoughts and criticism in the review box below!**


	2. I: Arrival

**Arc I. A New World**

 **Chapter Two: Arrival**

* * *

 _Five months before The Boy in The Iceberg..._

It was a nice spring day in the Southern Water Tribe. Or well, what was remaining of it, which was a village with a few tents, a makeshift snow watchtower, and a giant igloo that stood out over everything.

But still, the ocean currents were calm as well as the wind, a clear sky, and an overall normal atmosphere of normality.

Well, except for one particular fifteen-year-old with a warrior's wolf-tail that threw normality out the window. "Hey Tobu! Scram! Come on, I gotta test this out and you kicking my dummy is not helping!" he yelled comically at a kid who was kicking a snowman at its base while giggling. A small group of little toddlers behind him also booed at the him getting in the way of their fun.

Tobu then moved out of the way, not because he told him to, but because he got bored. Either way, it was good riddance for the teen. A slingshot in one hand, a rock in the other, and snow dummy 10 feet across from him at the village entrance: it looked like he was good to go.

"Sokka, what in the world are you doing now?" a voice called out to him. A girl of similar age wearing a blue and white parka walked up to him. Sokka flashed his teeth with a huge smile.

"Well, my dear sister Katara, I'm glad you asked!" he exclaimed, raising his arms in the air. Katara merely rolled her eyes at his over-enthusiasm. The elder sibling cleared his throat. "This, right here, is a wonderful handheld slingshot I had built from-," he was subsequently cut off by his younger sibling.

"Okay, you know what. Forget I asked," she then took a few steps back but decided to stay and watch his shenanigans play out.

Sokka shrugged and went back to his original task. Putting his rock in the slot, he aimed for the head of the snowman and stretched it back. "Aaaaaand there!" He released it, only for it to completely miss its target and flew out of the village walls.

He face-faulted a bit at his own expense. Turning his head around where the kids were, he saw their expressions. None seemed impressed at his failed attempt and none really had anything to say to that.

Katara spoke, though in an unsure manner. "Uh...that went...far?" She attempted to lift his spirits optimistically, which didn't really look like it helped.

He sighed and put on his game face again. "Well I guess second time's the charm then," he said. He grabbed another rock off the ground and put it in its slot again.

Katara raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was 'Third time's a charm'?" she corrected.

He stretched out the sling. "You know what I mean." His sister then shook her head and watched on.

She didn't know why he even bothered playing around with these things, whether if he was actually that childish or he really thought that this could help protect their village from another raid, she never could tell for sure. It was irritating, really. Whenever he went off to play soldier inside or outside the village, she always had to handle the dirty work. Making food, doing laundry, taking care of a litter of children, etc. It would be a cold day in... well a hot day in the South Pole when he would decide to grow up.

"Sokka, try to aim lower," one kid suggested.

He turned around with an annoyed expression. "I know!" He turned back around to fire it again, only for it to sail off to the village wall.

Well, at least now she could have some fun watching him be a weirdo.

"COME ON!" he cried out. "That was perfect!"

On second thought, maybe it would be better to do something else now. She looked up to the sky, not thinking about much but just admiring the beauty of it. Not that she knew what skies around the world looked like, but she felt it could never get as beautiful as this. Well, as beautiful as a fourteen year old could think of it to be.

Katara squinted her eyes. Strange, she swore she just a small speck of light...but during the day? But suddenly, that speck of light suddenly grew into a giant ball of light stationed right outside her village!

"Katara, I know you're seeing what I'm seeing!" Sokka called out nervously. Katara gulped and nodded. The other women of the village stopped what they were doing and gawked at the strange occurrence.

"Y-yeah, but what is it?" she asked. It flashed once more as the bright light filled the already-white landscape. The young girl covered her eyes to block the unbearable light. Once she felt like it was gone, she reopened her eyes when her jaw dropped in horror.

Something was shooting straight towards them...and fast!

"Sokka, do something!" a kid cried out.

Acting fast, he shot the rock he had placed on his slingshot. It hit its intended trajectory but bounced off right away by the much faster object, doing nothing to slow its path.

Behind him, the kids cheered for his success. "Yeah! Sokka!" "The third time was the charm!"

"I DON"T THINK THAT'S GOING TO HELP!" he squealed out.

Before they knew it, it impacted the side of the village wall on the outside, the deafening noise making the villagers cover their ears and cringe. A plume of snow rose up and settled as soon as it rose.

Katara looked on, a little shook by the what had occurred before her. A nervous laugh from Sokka brought her attention to him.

"Um...I guess I should check it out?" He uneasily tiptoed over to the village entrance, keeping his slingshot in his hand.

Snapping out of her daze, Katara reached a hand out to him. "Sokka, wait for me!" She found herself running up to him, wanting to see the thing with her own eyes.

Sokka's breath hitched. "Katara, stay back!" But she paid him no heed, as she ran outside and stopped, gasping at what she saw.

A teenage boy, littered with bruises and dripping with blood, lay motionless at the center of the impact crater that he created. Katara stepped back in shock, hearing the same gasps from the other villagers and her brother as they had caught up to her. "My spirits," she breathed out. She then stepped forward, her instinct telling her to help him, but Sokka's hand was placed on her shoulders.

"No Katara, don't get near him. He could be a Fire Nation spy," he warned, but his voice carried a twinge of nervousness in it. Katara gave her brother a glare and shook his hand off her shoulder.

"What's wrong with you? We should be helping him," she said with conviction that she never knew she had. Pointing a finger toward the boy on the ground, she added "Can't you see he's hurt?!" She was indeed right, as the boy's shirt was torn, revealing all of the bruises that would normally be covered.

"She's right Sokka," a elderly woman called out. The two siblings turn their heads to see their grandmother walk past the other villagers.

His face softened. "But Gran-Gran," he managed to get out, seeing no one would side with him on this. Gran-Gran closed her eyes and shook her head.

She reopened them and looked at the boy with a measure of sorrow. "Look at his current state, grandson. Wouldn't you want someone to help you if you were that defenseless?"

He tried to hold his ground, not wanting to trust this stranger that just popped in out of nowhere...but his Gran-Gran had a point. It was the right thing to do. Sighing with resignation, he slumped his arms. "Fine, you win."

Katara beamed and gave him a brief hug. "Thanks for understanding Sokka," she said. Letting go of him, she then sheepishly said, "But you're going to have to carry him to your tent."

Sokka's jaw dropped. "OH COME ON!"

* * *

 _One week later..._

Pain.

Pain all over his being was all he felt and all he knew as of this moment. His head felt horrible to top it all off, so it just hurt to even think. His ears were slightly ringing, so he twitched his ears to be rid of that sound.

But, he then felt something placed on his forehead. Something that was wet and felt like...a towel, maybe? Come to think of it, he was on a pretty comfy surface too. Was he home already?

"Okay Sokka, you can go away now," someone said, not a voice he recognized at all.

"Fine, fine. Jeesh, enjoy your company then," another voice trailed off, presumably walking away. That was strange, both voices he couldn't figure out who they belonged to.

A groan escaped him as Gohan opened his eyes to find his vision blurred. He blinked slowly to clear his sight and lifted a palm to his face, trying to massage his temples a bit.

"Oh, you're awake!"

Removing his hand from his face, he saw his vision returned to normal. The first thing he saw was an unfamiliar girl with deep blue eyes crouched down, looking down at him with a slightly curious expression.

She stared at him for a bit and he didn't know when she'd stop because her stare seemed a little uncomfortable at the moment.

Gohan broke the silence. "Uh...hi?" He face-palmed mentally. Was that really the best he could come up with?

It seemed that broke her out of her stupor, as she stammered a bit and stood. "Oh-uh-um...hi," she also said, fidgeting a bit where she was standing. Almost like she was nervous or something.

Gohan, not knowing what to make of that, decided to end the awkward introductions. He decided to get up from his laying position, which was a little difficult considering how weak he felt, and sat criss cross on the floor. Looking down, he found that his garments were changed to some kimono-like tunic and trousers, predominantly blue.

Figuring they had changed it for him, he then focused back to her. "Sorry about this, but do you know where I am?" he asked as politely as he could, though his voice was still hoarse. It was slightly unnerving to be in an unfamiliar place, but it seemed like he was in a tent of some kind.

The girl, who wore a huge parka, gave him a confused look. "Wait, you don't know where you are? How?"

Gohan shook his head. She gave him that same stare again before answering him. "Well, you're in the Southern Water Tribe village," she answered.

It was now Gohan's turn to be confused. _'What? I don't know any Southern Water Tribe. Where in the world am I?'_ he thought to himself.

He then jolted a bit, now remembering the recent events, hitting him like a full-force Kamehameha.

The images of the last few days were imprinted in his head. Bojack's invasion, the destruction of West City, the fight at Gingertown, and...Shenron. _'That's right, Bojack called Shenron out and he-'_ his thoughts were cut off by his current caretaker.

"I'm Katara!" she blurted out. He jolted again at being cut off from his thoughts, completely forgetting about his present situation.

He then sheepishly laughed and scratched his head. "Heh, sorry. I guess I forgot to introduce myself too," he said. Bowing a bit first, he then smiled. "My name's Gohan. Son Gohan." he revealed. "Nice to meet you," extending out a hand, he met her eyes.

Katara was taken aback a bit, but then gave him a smile of her own. "Nice to meet you too, Gohan." She then placed her hand on his and gave each other a small handshake.

Letting their hands go, Gohan decided to ask more about his predicament. "So, I was going to ask, how-," he stopped himself from continuing when he saw another figure approach the tent.

The flaps of the tent opened to reveal a guy that looked somewhat like the girl in front of him. "Hey Katara, did you see my spear anywhere? I need to...," trailing off when he saw the awoken stranger, he immediately grabbed Katara and placed himself in front of her.

Taking a few steps back, he scowled at Gohan. "Katara! What did I tell you?! Stay back! I told you this could be a Fire Nation spy trying to bring us down!" he scolded. The Saiyan didn't respond to that, as he had no idea what he was talking about.

Seeing the evidently lost expression on Gohan, Katara rolled her eyes. Pushing him off to the side, she gestured to Gohan. "Would you knock it off already, Sokka? Stop being so immature," she said to him.

Sokka looked flabbergasted. "Am I the only sane person in this village that wants to be cautious about random people showing up at our doorstep?" he asked. Instead of retorting, Katara ignored him, not wanting to listen to his rants.

Turning back to face Gohan, she found him looking at the two with slight amusement and a grin. She raised an eyebrow. "Why are you smiling like that?" she asked.

Gohan laughed a little. "Nothing, it's just that you two remind me of a couple I know who argue the same way," he said humorously, thinking of a certain blue-haired genius and a fiery Saiyan prince. Not too many times had he ever seen the couple ever not find something to quarrel about.

Sokka looked offended. "Hey! I'm a perfectly level-headed guy, thank you very much!" he exclaimed, stubbornly keeping his nose in the air.

Instead of questioning him about who Gohan was talking about, she decided to roll with it. "Alright, well I just wanted to let you know that the way you showed up to our village was pretty shaky, and the people in our village were pretty scared," she explained to him.

He furrowed his brow. "Exactly how did I show up here?" he asked.

"You basically fell right out of the sky and landed hard enough to make a crater," she answered bluntly. Gohan looked down, trying to remember what exactly led him here. He remembered his fight with Bojack completely, from his first attack on Earth to days later, at the final battle above Gingertown. Everything after he was paralyzed by his men seemed like a blur.

"But anyways," he brought his attention back to her. "Everyone in the village just want to know whether it's...safe to keep you here until you've healed completely," she explained, not sure of how else to word it.

Sokka scoffed and muttered something under his breath. Choosing again to ignore him, she continued on. "Well, do you think you can?" she asked.

Gohan pointed a thumb at himself. "Me? Why would I want to hurt any of you?" he asked rhetorically.

"And that's exactly what a Fire Nation spy would say!" the elder brother exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at him. Katara decided she had enough and pulled her brother's ear, causing him to protest.

"Will you at least give him a chance?! He hasn't even said anything bad and here you are just bullying him!" she yelled in his ear.

He struggled against her surprisingly strong grip. "Fine, fine! Ow! Just let go of me!" he pleaded comically. She released his ear and and he started to soothe it right away.

Gohan laughed again and spoke. "So what can I do to have them trust me?" he asked. Katara smiled and grabbed his arm, astonishing the Saiyan at her boldness.

She pulled him out of the tent, ignoring his cries of protest. "H-hey! Wait, slow down!" he said as he was pulled along. But he let her do it anyway, the reason unknown to him.

* * *

"Gohan, this is the entire village. Entire village, this is Gohan," she introduced, gesturing to her people. There were only about a dozen people in front of him, finding it to be a bit odd. He figured that this was usually how many people a village had, so he let it go. They were mainly mothers that held their children close to them but standing at the center of them all was an elderly woman.

Keeping a friendly smile on his face, he bowed to them, arms by his side. "Hi everyone, it's nice to meet you," he greeted. The response he got was not what he expected. Instead of a greeting back, the mothers tucked their children towards their legs, an obvious sign of mistrust and fear.

Scratching his head, he decided to address the real issue at hand. "I can understand why all of you might not trust me after the way I had shown up," he began. Still seeing the same look on their faces, he continued. "But if it means anything, I just want to say I'm not here to hurt any of you. I honestly don't remember how I ended up in your village," he said, sincerity laced in every word he spoke.

Waiting for their reactions, he saw them soften up a little bit. The old lady took a few steps towards him and nodded. "Well, it's good you understand that. But you should also understand that we can't just take your word for everything you say," she said bluntly.

Gohan nodded, his brows furrowed in seriousness. "No, you're right. It can't be everyday someone shows up like that. But I'm willing to do anything so I can at the least keep you from worrying about me," he said.

Katara came before them and gestured to the newcomer. "Don't worry Gran-Gran. I'm sure he won't ever try to hurt us in any way," she defended.

This did not ease her grandmother's stare. "Katara, I know you have a kind soul, but don't try to defend him as if you know him," Gran-Gran scolded.

Her granddaughter stared back at her incredulously before muttering a "Yes Gran-Gran" and took a step back.

There was a momentary silence, with nothing but the light breeze entering their ears. But there was an invisible tension in the air that could be sensed by everyone, even the children.

One of them decided to make himself known. A small child wriggled his way out his mother's grasp, stunning her. He slowly walked up to Gohan, who looked down to see the young toddler with huge eyes looking up at him.

Reminding him of his own little brother, Gohan gave him a small smile. "Hey little guy," he said to him.

The kid stared back at him with a curious expression. "Tell us a good joke," he said out of nowhere.

Gohan raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what?" he asked.

The kid continued. "Tell us a joke. If it's good, everyone will like you," he said innocently enough. He was given an astonished stare by Gohan, who then turned to Gran-Gran sporting an amused expression.

"Well?" she asked.

Gohan sputtered. "...what?" he asked her.

"Tell us all a joke. Perhaps we will be more lenient on you if you do," she said with a small smile, the wrinkles on her face accenting it.

He could only panic inwardly. _'Oh man, I've never told a really funny joke before. Come on Gohan, think!'_ he deliberated as he put a few fingers to his forehead. Sweat gathered at his forehead and mentally berated himself at the fact he couldn't come up with one _single_ joke. _'Um...knock knock! Who's there? Krillin!...wait, no one here knows Krillin...darn it!'_ he thought to himself. But suddenly, one came to his mind and his face immediately brightened.

He snapped his finger and pointed it out. "I got it!" he exclaimed. His audience said nothing, waiting for what he would say. Katara leaned a bit forward to hear his next words.

Gohan grinned. "You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish!" His lack of feedback then put a damper on his excitement. He face-faulted a bit, fearing his bad excuse of a joke didn't get through to them.

The kid then pouted. "That was lame," he said as he turned back to return to his mother.

Off to the side, Sokka nodded his head. "Yeah what kind of joke was that? Like, I could come up with much-."

"Wait!"

Turning back around midway, the kid diverted his attention back to Gohan.

Forehead creased, he then closed his fist and brought it out in front of him. His expression set, the Saiyan made another attempt at a joke. "Why did the banana go to the doctor?!" he asked, more so to everyone in the village.

Collectively, they all asked the same question: "Why?"

The corners of his mouth lifted. "Because he wasn't _peeling_ well!" he exclaimed. This time around, the kid started to giggle and then laughed. The rest of the village soon followed with a couple snickers in between.

Gohan's face gleamed in delight and turned his head to see Katara giggling as well, holding her hand over her mouth. Another glance to the side allowed him to see Sokka trying his best not to laugh, but still ended up sputtering anyway.

He raised his fist in the air, happy his second attempt had worked. "Yes! I did it!"

Right away, the children left their mother's holds and ran up to Gohan, pulling on his trousers and shirt. "Tell us another one!" "That was funny!" they all said with glee. Gohan laughed heartily, placing both of his hand on two of the kids and ruffled their hair.

Gran-Gran kept a smile on her face, seeing that their guest had genuinely made an effort to make them all laugh. And that was enough to prove he possessed a kind soul, just like Katara and the little ones. She walked up to him and nodded. "I think that settles it. If the children have accepted you as quick as they did, the rest of us should make the same effort as well," she said, gesturing to the tribes-people standing behind her. "That also means you too Sokka," a quick look in his way showed the eldest child jaw-drop.

The son of Goku lifted his hands from the kid's head and nodded back to her, his jaw tightened in conviction. "Thank you. I promise I won't ever let you down!" he declared.

* * *

Later that evening, the newcomer to the Southern Water Tribe found himself in the tent where he had awoken from unconsciousness. He didn't notice it before, but there wasn't much room in his new space that was being given to him.

Not that he minded it one bit. If it came down to it, he could survive by himself in the wild by himself. It was something that he had accomplished when training with Piccolo for the Saiyans.

But back to the present. Right now, Sokka was telling him about his current arrangements.

"So, we got a toothbrush, some washing cream if you ever need it, and other things I can't remember. You got that?" he asked disinterestedly. Gohan nodded in confirmation. Sokka then sighed. "Good. So don't come running to me when you can't find your things, ok?" he warned him.

Gohan looked at him with gratitude. "Thanks, Sokka. I really appreciate it," he thanked.

The son of Hakoda gazed at him for a few more seconds before sighing again. "Riiight," he said before opening the flaps of the tent to exit.

Gohan kept his smile for a while before it morphed into a frown. Now to the other problem that had bugged him ever since he woke up: Clenching and unclenching his fist a couple times, he eyed it for a bit, trying to focus on his ki...

Only to discover he couldn't access it.

Exhaling through his nose, he kept his fist clenched. _'This shouldn't be happening. Not that long ago I was able to use my ki, and now it just decides to disappear? No, it was something that Bojack's men did to me,'_ he contemplated. Now that he thought about it, they had done something to paralyze him and drain him of his energy.

 _-Flashback-_

 _Bojack only kept a smirk on his face, not taking any measure to defend himself, keeping his arms relaxed at his sides. Gohan paid no heed to that and cocked his fist back. But before he could drive his fist, a horrible sensation overcame him. His aura fading, he found that he couldn't move one bit._

 _Gohan struggled to fight it, but to no avail. "Grr, what...what did...you do to me?" Bojack laughed and looked down below the fighters._

 _A small, chubby looking figure and a similarly dressed figure with a goatee rose up from below and met their leader at both sides. Their hands were extended outwards, blue tethers of energy extending out from their fingers and attaching themselves to Gohan as if he were trapped in a spider web._

 _-Flashback end-_

He would have accepted that as the reason but remembered that he could still sense the energy of his adversaries during that time. It had to be some other reason. Could Bojack have made a wish to strip him of his use of ki? _'No, that's not it either. Why would he waste a wish for something like that?'_ he thought. Bojack was twisted, but he would have had the sense to wish something for his own benefit.

Suddenly, realization dawned on him. It had to be what happened to him after he was paralyzed. The woman next to Bojack, Zangya, had performed some kind of technique on him. Gohan's mouth opened in a 'o' shape, shocked that it was most likely the case. _'I fell unconscious right after that strange ball of energy she put around me,'_ he determined.

When he had become conscious once more, he had discovered he couldn't access his ki at the time but attributed it to the fact that he was extremely weak and drained of his strength.

 _-Flashback-_

 _Gohan slowly stirred, raising his head off the concrete ground under him slowly and painfully. "Ugh, what happened?" he asked, addressed to no one in particular. Putting a palm on his head, he pressed on it to relieve the pain in his head._

 _When his vision cleared, the darkness of the usual blue sky greets him. Shaking his head quickly, he cranes his head around to examine his surroundings, looking for where the space pirate had gone off to._

 _"Bojack, where are you?!" he yelled out, his echo bouncing off the buildings. Another look behind him revealed a beam of light shooting up into the sky, bending and twisting to take on the shape of the Eternal Dragon._

 _Taking a step forward in panic, he stumbled and fell to the ground on all fours while panting, suddenly losing his breath for some reason. "What the...*huff * huff*...what happened to me?" he thought out loud, gritting his teeth. Pushing himself off the ground once more, and he gathered his ki so he could fly upward and track Bojack down as soon as possible._

 _What then surprised him was that he couldn't find his ki at all. Feeling a little frustrated, he tried to extend his ki out to at the very least find them, only to find...nothing at all. "What's going on with me?" he asked himself. Too tired to concentrate, thinking it would only waste precious time, he cupped his hands together to his mouth, calling on the only other method of flight. "Nimbus!" he yelled._

 _A few moments later, the magical, yellow cloud swooped in from the sky. Gohan ran and jumped up on the cloud. "Alright Nimbus, go towards Shenron. We have to stop him!" he commanded._

 _The cloud obeyed his order and accelerated towards its intended destination._

 _-Flashback end-_

It was now obvious that his group of lackeys had done something to inhibit his ki, but for what reason? More questions like these plagues his mind, feeling the true pressure of them the more he kept his mind on the matter.

Becoming slightly exasperated, he let out a harsh sigh and sat down on the floor. On top of not knowing where in the world he landed in, the safety of his friends and his family entered his mind. Gohan gazed upwards, a look of pure concern etched on his features. "Mom, Goten, Piccolo...I hope you're alright," he said out loud, his heart aching at the thought of them.

"Vegeta, you had to have found a way to defeat him. I know you could never allow him to win, I just can't imagine that happening," he said, putting his utmost faith in the Saiyan prince. He might have been too prideful for his own good, but that same pride never let him back down from a challenge, no matter how much bigger it was than him.

He sat there with his gaze on the floor for a while, his thoughts being surrounded by the faces of his family and friends, not that he could help it at all. It was during the short period of his contemplation that Katara decided to approach his tent.

She held a small plate in her hands, containing the dinner she had made for him specifically, made with sea prunes and broth. Only because he was their guest, and not for any other reason, obviously. Using one hand to open his tent, she peeked her head inside. He was simply sitting there on the ground, not noticing her entrance. "Gohan?" she called out.

No response. This time she welcomed herself into his tent and tried once more. "Gohan...Earth to Gohan!" she said, a little louder than before. It seemed to work, as he snapped his head up to meet her eyes looking at him strangely.

Nervously laughing, he put a hand behind his head. "Sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention," he said, glad that he could take his mind off of his troubles for a bit. A delightful smell entered his ears as he sniffed the air a bit. Seeing the plate of food in her hands caused his stomach to rumble loudly at the sight of sustenance, making him red in the face.

She giggled a bit and waved her hand out. "It's fine, you don't have to apologize. That's actually why I came here," she said, handing the tray to him. He took it into his hands, face wide with glee, and put it on the ground in front of him.

He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Wow Katara! This looks really good!" he exclaimed, taking a bite into the sea prunes. His taste buds were hit with a great sensation, leading him to start taking more from the bowl one at a time, eating it in almost no time at all.

She looked unsure of how to respond. "Yeah sure...um...no problem?" she said slowly, appalled at his ravenous appetite. Never had she seen someone eat like that before. Not even Sokka was this passionate when eating his food.

Not listening to her, Gohan placed the bowl down, and jumped right into the broth which he devoured in less than 10 seconds, surprising even himself at his rapidness. When he saw there was no more food left, he visibly deflated but made sure he didn't seem ungrateful for the food given.

"Thanks again, Katara. That was great, when did learn how to cook like that?" he asked, genuinely curious. He places his elbows on his knees and rested his head in both palms, waiting for her to continue their conversation.

Katara put a finger to her chin, the question being surprisingly thought-provoking. "I don't really remember, I just know I learned it myself over the last few years," she told him, feeling a sense of accomplishment at having him compliment her cooking, striking her as strange.

But then she recalled the other reason why she personally decided to visit him. "Say, do you remember having a bag of beans with you before?" she asked, pulling a small brown bag from her left pocket.

His jaw dropped, having completely forgotten about the magical beans. "Oh yeah, I did have those with me. Where did you find it?" he asked, receiving the bag with his hands.

"They found it when we started to heal you. It fell out of your shirt, so they just kept it away until you woke up," she replied.

Opening the bag, he found that there were still quite several of them left, twenty beans if he counted correctly. He sighed with some relief. Perhaps if he ate one of the beans, it would restore his energy to maximum and shatter the barrier that was placed on him. Though even he knew that sounded a little far-fetched to work.

"So Gohan," she started. Gohan put the beans next to him and looked at her. She seemed to be contemplating her next choice of words, as her expression said it all. "I hope you don't mind me asking you, but how did you end-."

"Katara, I need some help with Tobu's diaper!" one woman called out from outside the tent. The 13-year old never finished her question as she was startled out of asking it.

Sighing, she pulled the flap of the tent to go back outside. "Um-well, I guess it's good night then. See you tomorrow Gohan," she said goodbye, gazing at him for a little bit.

He waved to her. "Bye Katara," he said as well.

Leaving the tent, it was now just Gohan alone by himself. Going back to the sensu beans, he was then hit by an epiphany: If the sensu beans had come along with him, had the Flying Nimbus as well tagged along?

Those would be questions for later however, as he yawned, stretching out his arms. _'Gee, I'm more tired than I thought I was,'_ he thought. Maybe it would be best if he had a good night's sleep and see what happens tomorrow.

Before retiring for the night though, he had to make sure of one thing. Taking a bean out of the bag, he popped one into his mouth and chewed it slowly, almost savoring the usual bitter taste of it. After swallowing, he felt his energy be restored back to one hundred percent, along with his slight hunger being satisfied.

But, in the end..."It didn't work," he muttered. His strength did not feel restored to him, even if he couldn't sense his own energy. Clenching the top of his blanket, he sighed. This almost felt like everything he had worked for since he was a kid was just taken from him unfairly.

Resolving to find a way to restore his strength, he decided to make his leave tomorrow, and see whether his friends could help him or not. That was if they were still alive, which he was sure of. If they weren't this world would've already been history.

Laying down and pulling the blanket over his frame, Gohan closed his eyes. He let his drowsiness take over, succumbing to a well-deserved slumber.

* * *

 **Stuff to address:**

 **1) Gohan is fourteen years old**

 **2)** **Okay, I know what you're thinking: Why did this bastard just do the unthinkable to one of the most badass characters of Dragon Ball Z? And that he better have a good explanation for it. Well, let me explain.**

 **Technically, you could blame Bojack for Gohan's situation. That pirate is a twisted freak as we all know and he makes no distinction on who suffers, whether it is his enemies or his own minions. But onto the real reason.**

 **I am a firm believer of the fact that even in his base form, if he wanted to, Son Gohan could one-shot _everyone_ in the Avatar-verse with ease without ever having to think of transforming. He would go straight to the Fire Lord's house and just annihilate him swiftly. And from a perspective of a writer that enjoys tension and suspense in a story, I take issue with that. **

**If I just wanted to have a story where Gohan just ends up in the Avatar-verse with his powers intact, then there wouldn't even be a need to write this story.**

 **You could just imagine in your head how it would go: Aang would essentially lose his role as an important character, all the other characters would just take a backseat and let Gohan take care of the bad guys with flashy explosions, character development would lose all meaning, and the build-up of conflict would be fazed out.**

 **Besides, it's way more interesting to see how Gohan would handle this predicament on his own without his father's guidance or Piccolo's. How will he cope with this new problem? What challenges will he face?**

 **But, just to assure you guys, Gohan WILL get his powers back in the good ol' DBZ-esque fashion that is familiar to us all. But the question is, when and how? Well that's for me to know and for you all to find out.**

 **Also, I was inspired by the story called 'Dragons of the Sapphire Flame' with this little chapter and a few other ideas later on. I asked the author about it but I never got any answer back from him, so I want to just give credit where it's due here and now.**

 **So, to end this off, tell me how you thought of this chapter in the review box below with your thoughts and constructive criticism. Enjoy!**


	3. I: A New Beginning

**Arc I. A New World**

 **Chapter 3: A New Beginning**

* * *

 _It was a nice day in the fields of Mount Paozu with a serene atmosphere to accompany it. The birds were chirping, the grass was green, and the sun shined with brilliance throughout the land._

 _A small house with an old hut alongside of it sat at the center of the fields in an open space surrounded by forests. Outside of it, two brothers were both sat by the base of a tree, catching apples as they fell below._

 _The younger one giggled. "Gohan, I caught more than you did!" he exclaimed, in good nature of course. His older brother chuckled, and ruffled his brother's hair, reminding him so much of his father._

 _"I guess you did squirt," he said. A comfortable silence settled between them, content on just sitting there and enjoying the slight breeze. Gohan closed his eyes while keeping his smile._

 _Goten called out to him. "Hey Gohan?" he asked._

 _Gohan kept his eyes closed, but replied with a "Hm?"_

 _"GOHAN"_

 _What he heard next made him snap his eyes open, a voice of which he never heard before addressed his name. He should have said voices, as hundreds of different voices melted into one spoke. Looking over to his side, he saw someone else entirely had taken the place of his brother._

 _A small, bald boy sat next to him, but that wasn't the surprising thing. He had an glowing tattoos everywhere, including the arrow that came from behind his head to the middle of his forehead._

 _But what struck him most were the glowing eyes. Gohan stood up and took a defensive stance. "What the-Who are you?" he demanded._

 _The kid did not respond. Instead, his glowing tattoos glowed even brighter than before. The light protruded from him and leaked into the landscape, causing Gohan to shield his eyes, before it was too much to handle..._

* * *

Awakening with a gasp, he immediately sat up and whipped his head side to side a few times, startled by his dream. Groaning, he rubbed his eyes, wiping the gunk that formed in the night. "Man, that was weird," he said to himself. What was that dream anyway? He rarely had dreams like that, especially those that felt borderline nightmarish.

Lifting himself up, he stretched his muscles a bit, fully awakened at his point. He took the cleaning items Sokka gave him last night and left his tent into the cold air outside.

After some searching, he went and found a place -a lavatory of sorts- where he cleaned himself off and changed into the appropriate clothes that had been left for him by Sokka.

After that, finding himself with nothing else to do, he made his way back to his tent. Taking his time, he walked at a casual pace with a thought-filled expression. _'I should probably leave sometime today, maybe I could call Nimbus and go back home now if I wanted to...'_ he pondered on that thought for a bit. It was interrupted by a small toddler who grabbed his trousers with his tiny hands.

Looking down, he stopped in his tracks. "Hm? Hey there little guy," he greeted him, as he did with children.

Pointing at who he thought was his mother, he asked: "My mommy wants some help."

He saw the woman he was pointing at, seeing her struggle to lift a basket of clothes from the ground. Nodding towards the kid, he walked over to the frustrated mother, who was heaving to lift the basket even a little.

Lifting a hand, he grabbed her attention. "Um, ma'am, do you want any help with that?" Instantly, she relented on her wasted efforts and caught her breath. She backed away, presumably to allow him to assist her.

Taking the basket into his hands, he was then prompted to shift the basket away from the fire pit at the center of the village. "Put it in front of that tent over there," she pointed at the last tent to the right.

Not taking any effort at all, he lifted the heavy basket and casually placed it in front of the tent.

The woman's eyes widened in surprise but then ignored it, going back to her business.

Walking off, he opened the flap of his tent, but then stopped and turned around, hearing some commotion. _'What's going on?'_ he thought to himself. Sokka and Katara stood by a tent, probably Sokka's, seemingly arguing with one another.

Sokka shook his head. "No, you have to stay here Katara. How many times do I have to tell you that?" he told her, taking two spears into his hand from the side of his tent.

She fumed and clenched her fists by her side. "Why won't you ever let me go with you? I'm not some little kid that doesn't know how to catch some stupid fish," she exclaimed. Sokka rolled his eyes and gave her a pointed look.

Staying silent for a moment, she relented. "Okay, maybe I am. But it's not like we're going to be making feasts with how much fish you bring back," she said in return. "It's already hard enough for us that all the men are gone, so you have to let me help you," she said, almost pleading with him.

This caught Gohan's attention. "All the men...gone?" he muttered. What was going on here?

It didn't seem like he would give in, no matter how long she kept the sad look. "Listen, I know you want to go, but it's too dangerous for you. They made their choice to leave and make me the guardian of the village. I'm not about to go back on my promise to keep you safe," he told her in a brotherly manner.

The tone he used with her didn't help her frustration, no matter how gentle it was. Before she could get another word out to egg him further, she saw Gohan standing by his tent, watching the siblings argue with each other.

She turned to look at him. "Hey Gohan," she called out.

Taking a step back in surprise, he pointed a thumb at himself. "Me?" he asked. She nodded and he made his way over to them.

Gohan stopped in front of them. "What's up?" Sokka could only muster a slight glare at him, annoyed his sister called over this stranger who he still didn't trust yet.

Katara smiled and gave a look to her brother. "Well, Sokka here's having a hard time catching some fish and he was asking for your help," she told him.

Sokka furrowed his brow in confusion. "What? No I di-"

Gohan smiles back and looks to Sokka. "Sure, I'll be happy to help," he tells him.

She gives Sokka a sweet look and starts to push both of them out of the village, their feet dragging across the snow. "Well, happy hunting you two!" she exclaimed. They reached the outside of the village and stopped.

Sokka looked back, obviously against the idea. "I never even said I wou-," he stopped, seeing the nasty glare his sister gave him.

Sighing in resignation, he craned his head to Gohan, who was still smiling. "Well, you better show me you're a pro at this," he said, referring to the manly art of fishing.

Gohan let out a wide grin. "Like you wouldn't believe!"

* * *

"You know, I don't think I've asked you this, but just to make sure, HOW DO YOU HAVE A MAGIC CLOUD?!" Sokka yelled out comically.

After a rather short trip in the ocean waters, the boys made their catch for the day and parked their canoe near a small stream. The sun was still high in the sky and they were currently heading back to the village which was in small proximity to them.

He hadn't thought the Saiyan would be much of help to him, but he was proven wrong when the guy literally took his spear and drove it into the water in rapid succession, pulling out one fish from the waters, throwing it into his bucket, and repeated the process about what seemed like a hundred times to the Water Tribe boy.

After that, they called it a day. Well, Sokka did since his pride was crushed when he only managed to catch about five. Gohan, on the other hand, caught enough to fill his entire bucket and had to start filling Sokka's since his capacity reached its max.

Then, to add even further salt to the wound, Gohan carried both buckets on his shoulders since Sokka kept dropping his because of the sheer weight of it. This was before Gohan had yelled something out of nowhere - what was it it again? Nimbo? Nimbus? -, and a _yellow flying cloud_ flew right out of the sky, straight at them. He put both buckets on that thing, making Sokka think he was woke up in some sort of fantasy world today, pinching himself ever so often to confirm it was real.

They were now casually walking back to the village.

Gohan winced. "Yeah, you did. Three times I think," he said, rubbing his sensitive ear. "It's a magic cloud where only those that are pure of heart can...," he trailed off when Sokka poked his head underneath the cloud. "What are you doing?" he asked.

He brought his head back up. "Just making sure if it had wheels or not," he answered the confused Saiyan. Gohan looked at him, not knowing how to respond to that, eventually let it go.

Sokka ended the silence. "I still can't believe you caught that much fish while I only managed to catch scrap," he said dejectedly, gazing at the ice he trotted on.

Not expecting that, Gohan looked at him with sympathy. "Hey, don't beat yourself down over it. I've just been doing this since I was little, that's all," he told him. Seeing as his words did not lift his spirits, he continued. "That doesn't mean you can't get better Sokka. You know what they say, practice makes perfect." This time, Sokka contemplated on his words.

He lifted his head and chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right," was all he responded with, sporting a rather oddly nostalgic look on his face for some reason.

Glad to know his words had an positive effect, he jumped straight into another topic. "Hey Sokka, can I ask you a question?"

Sokka shrugged. "Shoot," he said, picking at his teeth with his nails.

He began. "Did you ever leave the village- I mean, the South Pole before?" he asked.

Sokka looked to him with an eyebrow raised. "Why do you want to know that?" he asked in kind, with genuine curiosity.

Gohan, thinking he took a step into the wrong direction, lifted both palms outward. "No reason. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said, knowing full well the other boy did not quite see him eye to eye yet.

Instead, he shook his head. "No it's fine. Just surprised is all," he told him. Gazing forward, he sighed. "I haven't gone far from the village, no. But...I've always wanted to see what the outside world was like with my dad, to be honest. But he told me to stay and protect our village from any outsiders," he answered, his tone becoming more somber with each word.

The Saiyan perked up at the mention of their father. "Oh...okay," he replied carefully. "If you don't mind me asking, where did he go?" he asked. Silence was the other boy's answer, as he did not bother to respond. They trudged through the snowy desert in a short silence, both lost in their thoughts.

Deciding not to pry on, he thought best to drop it. It wasn't his business to know these things and topics like this were sometimes best left untouched. He could tell that the mere conversation had put a damper on his mood, so it wouldn't be right to just leave him with somber thoughts.

"Sorry if I went too far," he apologized. Giving him a sad smile of his own, he continued. "But if it means anything, he probably just wanted to keep you here so you could be safe too. Not many people have fathers like those," he finished, thinking about a certain prince that almost let his son die during the battle with the androids, even though he knew he wasn't that way anymore.

Slowly, but surely, Sokka lifted his head. A small smile made its way to his face as he pondered on Gohan's words, silently agreeing with him. He sometimes resented the fact his father thought of him as incapable of fighting alongside the other warriors of their tribe, but it made sense as to why he was kept here. Deep down, he knew both him and Katara were his entire world and would release hell on anyone if he found out they were hurt.

Still keeping his eyes forward, he finally spoke. "Yeah, can't really argue with you there," he agreed. Meeting Gohan in the eye, he gave him a smirk. "You know, you're not all that bad," he admitted.

A grin from the Saiyan was his response. "Heh, I try," was all he had to say. The rest of the walk back was in silence, both content in letting it stay that way.

They reached the village to see Katara awaiting their arrival. She had her hands on her hips, waiting for them to reach within earshot. "Well that didn't take long at all," she said to herself.

The smiles on their faces stunned her a bit. "Huh, would you look at that? They're actually getting along." Only then she noticed something odd: a...yellow...thing was carrying their baskets of fish, which were really full this time.

She was too focused on it that she didn't notice them calling her name. "Uh, hello? Earth to Katara?" Sokka waved a hand to her face, breaking her out of her stupor.

Pointing a finger to the Nimbus, she couldn't even form a proper question. "How...when...what is that?"

Gohan sighed, feeling like he's gone over this a million times. "Well this is the Nimbus-," he was cut off by Sokka, who patted his sister in the shoulder.

"Don't worry about that. Just look at how much fish I caught!" he boasted, earning him a glare from his sister.

Beside him, Gohan snickered. "That's not what I saw," he teased. Ignoring him, Sokka kept nodding to himself in delight, trapped in his own world.

Katara turned her focus to Gohan. "I can't believe you two caught this much fish," she said, gesturing to the baskets of fish sitting atop the magic cloud. "This could last us a whole week!" she exclaimed in awe.

A laugh from Gohan startled her. "What's so funny?" she asked him.

Rubbing a finger under his nose, he continued his laughter. "Well, maybe a whole day!" he told her.

Feeling like this was a common practice now, she crossed her arms in confusion. "What do you mean by that?" she asked him again.

Oh, she did not want to know what he meant. Because later on during dinner time, she wished she never asked him at all.

* * *

Before long, nighttime had descended upon the village. Taken aback by the giant amount of fish the two boys had caught, the villagers ate like chieftains that night. Filled with nourishment, the populace was content enough to retire for the night and go to sleep, especially the children.

The crescent moon shone brightly across the pure white landscape, illuminating snow dunes and glaciers alike. It was here, far enough from the village but still within view, that Gohan found himself standing with his stance widened and his fists by his sides.

Exhaling, a concentrated look was etched on his face. Staring into the horizon before him, he cupped his hands and brought them to his right side.

 _'This better work,'_ he thought. Reciting the famous words, he began: "Ka...me...," bringing his hands even further back, he continued. "Ha...me..." There was still no sign of his ki pooling between his palms, or even within him at all.

Shooting his arms forward, he chanted the final phrase. "HA!" Standing there for a few seconds for extra measure, he then relaxed his posture. Gohan sighed, shaking his head. Still nothing at all.

"Darn," muttering to himself, the Saiyan ran a hand through his spiky locks. This did not look good at all. Why was it, that at the height of his power, it was all taken from him? Deep within himself, he took a small amount of pride at having worked for the power to stop horrible people from hurting the innocent, no matter how humbly he talked of himself. After all, he was trained by Piccolo, his first master, and his own father as well.

A somber look appeared on his features at the thought of his deceased father. "Dad, I wish you were here. At least then I'd know what to do," he said. If he was there fighting alongside him, then maybe things wouldn't have gone out of control and ended so badly.

It made his anger bubble to the surface at the thought of Bojack and his crew, but also with his own inability to unleash his true potential. In his battle with Cell, he was able to release his power when backed into the corner. With his latest adversary, none of that had made itself known.

Deciding to clear his head of such thoughts, the Saiyan began walking towards the village. Reaching its walls, he prepared to jump over them, but then gazed up to see the stars. Now noticing them for the first time since he arrived, they entranced him.

Straightening himself, he looked behind him to see the perfect view: the ocean waters gleaming just right, the moon reflecting off of it with the stars surrounding the crescent shape. It almost reminded him of the view at home, minus the icy terrain.

Deciding his sleep could wait, he went to sit by the shore in front of the village. Laying down, he found everything to be just right at the moment. The frigid air brushing across his face did nothing to stop him from savoring the view.

It was matters like this that reminded him of why he fought in the first place. He wasn't like his father, or Vegeta, who fought to test themselves and thirst for the next challenge with a smile on their face. Sure, his Saiyan side did feel the thrill of a battle, but never at the cost of innocent lives at stake.

It must've been a while since he started stargazing, because he was startled when a familiar voice addressed him. "Gohan?" Katara's form peeked out from the behind the village walls. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she walked up to him.

He sat up, and twisted his back slightly to look at her. "Just enjoying the view," he stated. He saw her stand there without responding back. Smiling, he gestured to the spot next to him. "Wanna join?" he asked her.

Looking unsure for a split second, she decided against walking back. Putting a comfortable distance between them, she sat down and wrapped her arms around her legs, covered by her parka. Gohan laid back down, his arms crossed behind his head.

"So what are you doing up so late?" he returned her earlier question back to her. She made the same unsure face again. _'Was it something I said?'_ he asked himself in confusion.

"Um...well, I had to use...the bathroom," she stuttered, startling the Saiyan.

He stumbled on his words a bit. "Oh-uh, s-sorry if I kept you. I-I didn't mean-," he was then cut off by Katara, who waved a hand to stop him.

"No, no. It's not that. I was actually here to do something else," she retracted her earlier statement.

Gohan still looked embarrassed, but felt the need to ask her. "Um, then what?" She remained silent for a moment and then looked directly at him.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone," she asked of him, a twinge of...shame in her tone?

Gohan nodded in affirmation. "I promise," he told her.

She then started to twiddle her thumbs. "I usually practice my waterbending around this time," she revealed, keeping her gaze down.

This caught his attention and he sat up. What did she say? "Wait, you said waterbending?" he asked her. Not meeting his eye, she slowly nodded. But her head lifted itself when he asked her "What is that?"

She did a double take. "You're kidding...right?" she asked, but saw he wasn't judging by the look on his face.

He shook his head side to side. "No, never heard of it," he told her.

Staring at his expression for a bit for any signs of deceit, she then unwrapped her arms around her knees. "Well, if you really don't know, then I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you," she reasoned, more to herself than to Gohan.

She cleared her throat. "Waterbending is an ancient art that's practiced by my people in the Water Tribes. It's sacred to us because it lets someone take control of the water and do amazing things with it," finishing up, she looked to see him have a semblance of understanding.

"Really? What's it like?" he asked, wanting a demonstration.

His child-like curiosity almost made her lips quirk. Removing a glove from her left hand, she indulged his request. "It's sort of like this," she outstretched her hand and moved it in a practiced manner at the water in front of them. Scrunching her face in concentration, she focused her chi on the water.

Gohan followed her gaze, and was pleasantly astonished when a small ball of water rose from the surface and remained in mid-air. "Wow, that's pretty neat." It remained stationary for another moment before it splashed back down to where it came from.

He scratched his head. "But why didn't Sokka show me this?" he turned to her.

Sighing, she looked off to the side. "That's because you're looking at the only waterbender left in the whole South Pole," she said downcast.

He then folded his legs lotus style. "Why's that?"

Not meeting his eyes, her response was not what he was expecting. "The Fire Nation took them from us," she said sadly.

Right away, Gohan felt a measure of guilt for asking these questions. They were all going through tough times and were barely making their end's meet. But from everything Sokka and Katara told him, he began to add everything up in his head.

Sokka said their father had left to go somewhere, and Katara said her village was attacked by...the Fire Nation was it? These places were all unfamiliar to him. But, nonetheless, he connected the dots: This Fire Nation took their waterbenders from them except Katara. The men of their tribe left to go fight them and their father told Sokka to stay and protect their village.

There was only one way he knew to say something to that. "I'm sorry," he breathed out. Gohan watched her widen her eyes, and then give him a sad smile.

"It's fine. You don't have anything to be sorry about," she told him.

Gohan shook his head. "No, I'm sorry for bringing something like that up. I can tell it's been hard, even though I haven't been here long enough," he said, sympathizing with her.

She then put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from rambling on further. "Apology accepted," she said with a half-smile, pulling her hand away. She then crossed her arms. "You know, you should tell me something about yourself too. I've told you about myself plenty," she pointed out.

Gohan laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess," he said. He fixed his gaze on her with sudden seriousness, making her giggle a bit. "So, what do you want to know?"

Katara put on her thinking face. "Hmm, let's see...oh! Where are you from?" she asked.

He shouldn't have been surprised, because he saw it coming from a mile away. "I'm from Mount Paozu," he answered.

She scrunched her features in bewilderment. "That's not a place I've ever heard of. Is that in the Earth Kingdom?" she asked.

Gohan didn't answer her right away. Instead, he was lost in his own thoughts. _'First the Water Tribe, then the Fire Nation, and now the Earth Kingdom? I've read every geography book that mom got for me and not one mentioned places like these.'_ He doubted his geography books were outdated, so it made no sense. It was like he got sucked into another...

A grave realization struck him, horror filling his entire being. He didn't show it outwardly, so Katara was confused by his sudden silence. _'What-what if...Bojack...,'_ he didn't finish his thought, the past events coming back to him like a movie.

 _-Flashback-_

 _Bojack snarled with rage and clenched his fist. "Foolish boy! You just don't know when to sit down, do you?! Ever since I arrived on this planet, you've been blocking me every step of the way," he said with disdain, rage clouding his mind. "I wish you would just damn yourself to a place where you could never get in my way and no one could find you!"_

 _He charged a ki blast in his hand, ready to end the boy's existence. "Which I think is a fate far less deserving and far more lenient than what you should actually-," he stopped mid-sentence, realizing what he had just said. Gohan's eyes widened as well and they both snapped their heads over to the dragon, whose eyes were now glowing red._

 _Shenron growled once more._ ** _"AS YOU WISH, SO IT SHALL BE."_ **

_-Flashback end-_

His breath hitched, the reality of what might have happened to him settling. "N-no, it can't be," he said under his breath.

Katara perked up. "What? I didn't hear that," she said, clueless to his dilemma. Her voice shook him out of his thoughts, and was met with expectant eyes.

Gohan put a hand behind his head. "Oh yeah-um...I guess? Not many people know where it is," he said, not missing a beat. It didn't look like she was skeptical because all she did was nod in understanding.

But she didn't stop her interrogation there. "Alright, well how about this one. Do you have a family?" she asked.

He nodded, glad to have the subject changed. A wistful expression settled on his features. "Yeah, I do. I have the best parents and my little brother Goten," he chuckled, not noticing his usage of the plural for parent. "He's a feisty one, that kid. But he's still the best little bro I could ever ask for," he admitted. At the thought of his little brother's antics, his mood was significantly lifted. He definitely had a way with doing that to him.

Katara gave him a smile, which he gave back in return as their eyes met. It was strange looking at her directly. Now that he actually had a good look at her, she actually seemed kind of...pretty. The stray thought startled Gohan. ' _Where did that come from?'_ he thought to himself.

The two looked each other in the eyes for another moment before Katara faintly blushed and broke the stare. She stood up and patted her parka before hastily walking off back to the village.

Gohan scratched the back of his head, his mouth opened as he was puzzled by her behavior. "Gosh dad, you were right...girls really are kind of weird," was all he had to say. He watched her run back to the village before she went out of view, leaving him alone under the moonlight.

Staying put for a moment, he then stood and looked up, gazing to the heavens. Chuckling a bit, he closed his eyes. "So you better wish me luck," he said as he began to trek back to his tent, unknowingly signifying so much more with that one action.

* * *

 **A bit of a filler chapter, but kind of a necessary one. Hopefully it wasn't that dull for you guys so just let me know what you all thought of this chapter in the review box below!**


	4. I: Tales of the South Pole

**Arc I. A New World**

 **Chapter 4: Tales of the South Pole**

* * *

 _Two weeks since Gohan's arrival..._

Sokka poked the Nimbus with his finger while keeping a safe distance. "Are you sure you can ride this thing?" he asked Gohan skeptically. "Like, I heard you say something about being pure or some walrus-crap like that, but I'm still convinced it's fake," he complained.

Off to her brother's side, Katara nudged him for his comment and looked at the cloud. "Do you think could you show us?" she asked the Saiyan.

A couple of the kids had also crowded around the teens, in awe of the magic happening before them.

Gohan said nothing as he walked past the siblings and jumped up on the cloud. His feet were planted on top of the cloud and stood up straight. He smiled again. "Sure, why not? Like I said before, Nimbus only lets people who're pure of heart ride him." Looking at his surroundings, he thought it would be best to make a small trip.

Pointing his finger forward dramatically, he looked down at the cloud. "Alright Nimbus! Loop around the village a little." Seemingly able to understand its owner, the cloud shot forward past the siblings. They watched in awe as it circled around them, leaving a slight golden streak behind it. The children also cheered, amazed at how cool it looked.

"That's so cool!" Katara exclaimed. Beside her, Sokka's eyes were filled with stars as well.

"I know right!" he yelled out in accord. The smug look on his sister's face made him realize what he said. Coughing, he looked away bored. "Well, I mean, it's still totally unreal and all..."

She rolled her eyes and watched Gohan park the cloud next to them as he jumped off of it. He shrugged. "See? It's easy," he said.

Sokka then rushed up to the cloud and rolled up his sleeve, wasting no time at all. "Alright Katara, watch the purest guy in the whole world ride it with style." Crouching down a bit, he jumped up and made his landing...with the ground face-first, that is. "How'd that happen?" he muttered into the snow.

She scoffed. "Yeah, about as pure the socks you wear." At that, her brother stood up right away and looked at her with a comical glare.

"Oh really? Then why don't you try it if you're s _oooo_ pure?" Challenge accepted.

She marched to the cloud and kept her own glare at Sokka. "Watch and learn," she said to him. Jumping up, she expected to be caught by Nimbus but then comically fell through as well.

Gohan looked on with amusement and put his hands on his head, finding the scene in front of him interesting enough.

Shaking the snow off her hair, she was left open-mouthed. "What? But how?"

Beside her, Sokka snickered. "Maybe it's because of the not-so-pure stew you fed me this morning," he laughed. That earned him a snowball to the face. Not even bothering to wipe it off, he sighed. "I probably deserved that."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, no kidding," she agreed. A hearty laugh came out of Gohan's mouth, making them send a glare at his direction.

Wiping his eye like there were tears coming out, he paused. "I think I can see why Nimbus won't let you on!" Gohan's laughter started up again when the two siblings got red in the face, most likely from embarrassment.

* * *

 _2 weeks later..._

"What do you call a pig that knows karate?" Gohan asked. He sat by a large campfire in the middle of the village during nighttime, with the rest of the village gathered around as well. Sokka and Katara sat on either side of him.

Everyone collectively asked. "What?"

Gohan grinned and raised a finger. "A pork chop!" It had the desired effect when the kids tittered with laughter. Looking to his side, he saw Katara also giggle, a hand over mouth as she tried to contain it. Of course, she was failing miserably at her attempt.

He beamed in pride. His joke-telling only got better as it became a common occurrence throughout his stay here. Only one person disagreed with him though...

Sokka narrowed his eyes and lifted his arms. "What? That was so lame, I could come up with much better," he claimed.

His sister looked over Gohan's head. "Then why don't you chime in already? Gohan's on a roll so far and I'd hate to say it but...I think he's got you beat," whispering the last part, she laughed at his hurt expression along with Gohan. The villagers also voiced their opinions, siding with Katara.

Sokka raised his hand, signaling everyone to settle it down. "Alright alright, I got one." Pausing for dramatic effect, he made eye contact with everyone in the circle. "Why did the man...run around his bed?"

"Why?" they all asked.

Smirking, he lifted a finger the same way Gohan did. "Because he wanted to catch up on his sleep!" No response. All he received were blank stares from his audience. Leaning back, he then crossed his arms and pouted at his failure.

But then everyone began to laugh. Well, more like the kids. It was a pleasant surprise for him, as he straightened back up. "Well, I guess that took a little longer than I thought but...in your face Katara!" he exclaimed, not bothering to look towards her.

A kid then chimed. "We were laughing at _your_ face silly!" Sokka's expression deflated again and pouted once more. Gohan laughed this time too while feeling bad at the other male's expense.

If someone asked Gohan why he was still here, he wouldn't know what to say. But one quick look at this moment, he would remember just why he was still among them.

But he couldn't lie, Sokka's face did look a bit funny.

* * *

 _2 weeks later..._

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

Gohan winced and took a step back, a terrified look appeared on his face. "Uh, about that-"

"NO! HOW COULD YOU JUST DO THAT TO ME?!" Katara roared. He took another step back in fright, rubbing his ears.

"I-I can expl-"

"AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR YOU!"

"I was hungry," he managed to get in, speaking as gently as possible to the beast that was Katara. He tried to placate her by putting two palms outward in surrender. This did nothing to stop her onslaught.

"YOU WERE HUNGRY!?" Another step back and he was pushed back against the tent flap. At the same time, Katara took a step forward, huffing while she did so.

He cowered in terror before her, appearing as a speck compared to a raging giant. She took on a more menacing tone. "After all those hours of preparing that food, for the entire village, my brother tells me you scarfed it all! Explain. Your. Self" She poked him in the chest with those last three words.

Terrified but still smiling nervously, he tried to defend himself. "Ah, well you s-see, it just smelled so good," he began in a high-pitched tone. "And when I picked up one fish, i-it tasted like heaven and before I knew it...I ate it all," he finished lamely. The same glare was boring into him, making him fear the worst.

He was taken aback when she dropped her glare and her features became softer once more. "I'm trying so hard to stay mad at you, but," she paused, closing her eyes. "You make that just as hard."

Gohan's expression turned from surprised to one of hopefulness. "So does that mean I'm off the hook?" he asked, hoping for a 'yes'.

She reopened them. "No."

* * *

 _2 weeks later..._

Katara maintained her concentration, keeping the blob of water afloat in the air with her chi. The full moon blanketed the icy land of the South Pole in all of its brilliance. It was during this full moon where Katara felt like she was at her most powerful as well.

Hence the reason why she came out this time at night: To practice her waterbending.

Off to her side, Gohan nodded. "Okay, you can drop it now," he told her. With that, she released the water from her hold as well as the breath she was holding.

She looked to him and put a hand on her hip. "Well? How was it this time?" she asked.

He smiled. "Good. No, you were great. It looks like you're getting better, though I've never met a master before," he gave her his analysis, taking a few steps closer to her. "You just need someone to teach you the actual moves. Your concentration is great, but that can only go so far without the actual movements involved with it."

Katara grinned. "Yeah, you're right," she said. Gazing at her palm, she slowly closed and opened it again. "I already feel myself getting better. I guess I should thank you for that," she told him gratefully, gazing at him sweetly.

He laughed and scratched the back of his head bashfully. "Hey don't look at me. You already had it in you. All you needed was a little motivation," he said. Yawning, he stretched his arms. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to call it a day," dropping his arms, he looked to her.

She agreed. "It is pretty late out." On that note, they both started to make their way back to the village. All of that concentration did really wear her out a bit, so some sleep would be nice.

But midway through, Katara suddenly yelped and fell to the ground. She clutched her ankle and hissed in pain.

Gohan immediately crouched down to her level. "Katara, what happened?" he asked out of concern. Looking behind her, he saw a small crack in the ice that was pretty wide. He deduced her foot might have got caught in it.

She rolled up her parka and her trousers, he saw that her ankle had turned slightly purple. Gohan reached a hand out, his eyes wide. "Your ankle...it's sprained," he stated.

Offering his hand to help her off the ground, she instead refused it. "I'm fine. It's nothing too serious." Waving him off, she stood up on her own. "See, nothing to worry-ah!" Stumbling over, her foot twisted itself.

Gohan managed to catch her before she met the ground again. "Hey, just let me help you out," he said to her softly but with seriousness. His caring tone made her instantly give in, as she was suddenly lifted bridal style.

"Woah!" she exclaimed and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. Never had she been carried by someone since she was a child. But...it was actually a nice feeling, being held in Gohan's arms. That mere thought was enough to make her blush and she concealed her smile, conveniently ignoring her injury.

He carried her the entire way until they reached her tent. Opening the flaps, he set her down gently and reached for his pockets. "I've got just the thing..." digging further, he pulled out a bean and extended it out to her. "Here it is, a sensu! Just chew it and you'll be just fine!" he told her.

She eyed it curiously, before remembering it was in the bag that fell out of Gohan's form when he first arrived. He saw her hesitance and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I wouldn't be offering this if I knew it wouldn't work," he told her.

"If you say so..." Slowly she took the bean from his hand and held it close to her mouth before popping it in. Chewing it slowly, she swallowed it, with the hope that whatever Gohan said would come true.

The effects were instantaneous. She literally felt her ankle injury correct itself and the purple color returned to the normal tan. "No way," she breathed out. Looking up at Gohan with a awestruck expression, she saw him sport a satisfied grin. A warm feeling swelled inside her when she saw his infectious grin, one that felt almost foreign to her. "Thank you so much Gohan," she told him with affection, hoping he would catch her tone this time.

Gohan accepted her thanks as it was. "Hey no problem. That's what friends are for, right?" he asked. Turning to leave, he could've swore he saw a ghost of a frown on her face. Thinking it was just him, he continued. "Tell me if you need anything, okay?" he had to make sure first.

Katara nodded, but didn't respond to him otherwise. Shrugging, Gohan left her tent to go back to his own tent.

But as he made his way over, his own smile turned into a frown.

It had been a total of eight weeks since he arrived to this place. It had been on the back of his mind for a while, but as each day passed, his anxiety only grew. He should've been wished back by the dragon a while back, but the chances of that were getting slimmer and slimmer.

Entering his tent, he breathed in and breathed out, closing his eyes. If the dragon was not going to wish him back, then he would have to take matters into his own hands.

And that would involve a very tough choice.

* * *

 _4 weeks later..._

The days flew by quick, which Gohan had noted in his time here. There was always something to do in this tiny village, from taking fishing trips with Sokka, to playing with the kids, and helping Katara out with whatever she wanted.

It was almost unbelievable that three months had passed since he arrived to this place.

Right now, he stood in front of a new Southern Water Tribe. Over the past few weeks, him and Sokka had decided that it was time to renovate the entire shape of their village. That included heightening the wall and rebuilding the fragmented watch tower, which stood tall and strong now. But most of all, they had built igloos for every family in the village.

Katara had helped out tremendously in that respect. She proved to be creative in Gohan's eyes and Sokka's as well, using her waterbending to shape the snow into compact ice bricks. Though it took effort at first, she had gotten the hang of it after the third igloo was up and ready.

The overall gist was this: Sokka designed the entire layout, Katara made the materials, and Gohan did the actual placements with his otherworldly strength. With that kind of execution, they made a nice team in Gohan's eyes.

Sokka stood next to him, wiping a bead of sweat that built up on his forehead with a rag. "Well Gohan, buddy, I think I can say this now: Mission accomplished!" he exclaimed, patting his companion on his back.

Behind them, Katara walked up and stood next to the boys, a look of pride on her face. "I can't believe we actually pulled it off. Everyone's going to be so happy," she said to them, referring to the rest of the village.

She then looked to Gohan and embraced him tightly as well. Gohan was surprised but then relaxed as he placed his hands over her back. "Thank you so much, Gohan," she whispered softly.

For some odd reason, his heartbeat quickened when she said that.

Sokka waited expectantly. "Uh, hello? Where's the hug for the schematics guy?" he asked. She let go of Gohan and extended her arms out to Sokka, only to flick him in the nose when he reached in to give her a brotherly hug.

Gohan rubbed his arm, becoming red at her praise. "Yeah, it wasn't all me, y'know? You made all of the blocks and Sokka helped out a lot too. I wouldn't have known where to put what if it wasn't for him," he admitted.

The thing that astonished him was when Sokka shook his head. Putting his hand on the Saiyan's shoulder, he gave a genuine smile. "No, don't sell yourself short, Gohan. You know that you did most of the work," he said.

Both Gohan and Katara were at a loss for words at his humility. "Sokka..." was what Gohan could get out.

The older brother continued on like he was uninterrupted. "I don't think I've told you this, but I'm saying it now. Thank you, bro. For everything," said Sokka.

Upon hearing him use 'bro', Gohan looked at him, still outwardly surprised but on the inside he felt...guilt perhaps? His eyes shifted to look at the ground next to him and contained a mix of emotions, mostly sadness.

The waterbender picked up on this and put a hand on his shoulder. "Is there something wrong Gohan?" Katara asked with concern.

Shaking his head, he put on a smile for them. "Nothing. I was just surprised to hear that from Sokka, that's all," he told her. It was true, he never heard him speak that truthfully before.

Gazing at him a little longer, she then returned the smile. "Hmm, alright. I guess it is weird hearing any kind of gratefulness from this guy," she teased her brother, pointing a thumb at him.

This earned a annoyed look from her brother. "Speak for yourself sis. I don't hear a 'Thank you Sokka' every time I bring back some fish," he argued back.

"That's because Gohan does all the work!"

"Nuh-uh!"

Gohan watched on as they argued, chuckling at their banter ever so often.

He would miss this.

* * *

 _That night..._

Putting the bag of beans in the left pocket of his knapsack, Gohan secured it and made sure it wouldn't fall out. Reopening his knapsack, he double-checked to make sure he had all of his belongings and closed it. He sighed and put his bag around his shoulders.

Everything was ready to go.

Making sure he didn't leave a mess in his igloo, he opened the front door slowly, enough so it didn't make any noise. He made towards the village entrance, not noticing his door was left slightly open. The snow blew strongly at his face, its crystalline shape melting the instant it contacted his face. White was mainly the only thing he could make out in front of him, save a few structures and the village entrance. His features hardened as he continued to trudge along.

It was time to face reality, which was long overdue. His friends back home were worried sick about him, especially his mom and Goten. For their sake and his own, he had to find a way to get back home. Not a day went by when he wouldn't think of them and their fates, whether it was good or bad.

That didn't make what he was going to do any easier, however. The first thing on his mind was how he was going to leave the only people his own age he could call his best friends: Sokka and Katara. The village, the people who kept him and nourished him like he was a member of their family. So many memories he made here, so many laughs and jokes cracked. That alone was enough to have him slow down, as he reached the walls. Turning around, he took the sight in one last time.

His lip quivered. "Katara, Sokka...everyone, I'm sorry," whispered the son of Goku. Extending a shaky arm out, he let it stay like that. It was like he wanted someone to pull his arm back into his igloo and tell him to stay.

Then, he clenches his hand and brings it back to his side. Toughening up, he inhaled then exhaled, trying to suppress the rise of emotions that threatened to make themselves known.

One last look was all he needed and he whispered "Goodbye." Turning back around, he ran off as fast as he could and left the village, his former home, behind and into the storm beyond.

Jumping above the ice ridges and steps, he put some distance between him and the village. Once he was sure he was out of hearing range, the icy shore was where he halted.

"Nimbus!" he called out to the magic cloud. Seconds later, the golden streak of the cloud descended and stopped in front of him. Hopping on, he settled his feet down. "Alright, let's go," he commanded.

The cloud, along with Gohan, took off into the night and towards the horizon, with Gohan unknowing what the world would give him witness to.

* * *

 _The next morning..._

Katara stretched her arms, groaning in sleep fatigue as she did so. Raising herself off her sheets and putting on the appropriate clothes and parka, she exited the newly-built igloo. As always, she was one of the first to wake up before anyone else, seeing as how no one else would be outside before her.

Well, except one spiky-haired guy. At the thought of Gohan, her fatigue instantly disappeared.

It had become a daily routine for her, to wake up and talk with Gohan before everyone else awoke. She would go inside his tent, sit down and just chat with him about random things that they put out. He would mostly tell her about what he did the previous day on the daily canoe trips with Sokka or just plain old jokes to make her giggle. What really interested her was when he'd tell her stories of his life back where he came from, his family, and about the mountain he lived in. Oddly enough, she never heard him mention his father at all.

But it was the way he talked about his past that always grabbed her attention. A nostalgic look always made its way on his handsome face...she blushed as that thought came to the forefront of her mind. It took a while for Katara to realize it herself, but she had a crush on Gohan for what seemed like ages. Every time she got near him, her heartbeat became faster or skipped a few beats when he would smile at her.

Not to mention the countless times he's helped her with chores that were normally pushed down on her. Boys were, in her mind, just slobs that loved to eat, sleep, complain about being tired, and push the dirty work on the women. After all, she had her brother to use as a shining example.

Gohan was the shining exception, though. Ever since he entered into her life, he was always there by her side, helping her with laundry, chores, cooking (even though he botched that ten times too many), and going on fishing trips to bring the village food, without even asking him. Her water bending also got better as he taught her how to control her chi and by extension her natural element, when he didn't get any gain from doing it.

The way he talked, the way he scratched his head in embarrassment, the way he told his corny jokes, the way he was just...Gohan, was enough for her to have these types of feelings. But try as she might, it didn't even look like he noticed the subtle hints she gave him. It just seemed like all she would be to him was a friend, making her doubtful she could even get him to notice her a little.

A girl could dream, though.

But it was times like these that she woke up everyday for, where she would just sit down and listen to him talk about his life experiences and vice versa, all with a smile on their faces.

Not planning to quit that routine, she put a smile on her face and knocked on his door, only for it to creak open. Finding that to be odd, she pushed it so that she could see inside.

Only for her to find the entire igloo was cleared out.

* * *

 _That evening..._

Sokka sighed, trudging back to the village. It had been a long day for him after being woken up by his concerned sibling. After hours of searching, there was no sign of him whatsoever. Any tracks that he could have left were already covered in snow.

He was worried. Worried sick that something might have happened to his best friend. But he was sure his concern didn't hold a candle to his sister's, who stood by her lonesome on the ocean-side.

She stared at the sunset with a sorrowful expression on her face. The opposite of what a sight like that was supposed to make one feel.

A tear escaped her eye and fell to the icy ground.

* * *

 **A/N: I disagree with Gohan. His jokes are still just as horrible and corny.**

 **A little more development in this chapter, but we all know Gohan couldn't stay there forever.** **Next chapter I have a big surprise waiting for you all, one that I know you guys are going to enjoy.**


	5. I: A Savior Emerges

**Arc I. A New World**

 **Chapter 5: A Savior Emerges**

* * *

A golden cloud soared above the clouds, leaving behind a streak of the same color. On it laid the son of Goku, Gohan, who was sound asleep and snoring like no tomorrow.

Slowly, he awoke as he rubbed his eyes. Opening them, he saw that dawn had broke. The sky to his left was still dark, but the sun peeked over the horizon on the right, coloring the clouds with a slightly red-orange hue.

He sat up and decided to look out for any islands he might come across. A quick rumble in his stomach made him add one thing to his to-do list when he landed.

Just then, a mountain peeked out of the horizon. Squinting his eyes, he was able to make out a couple buildings situated at the top of the mountains. Buildings of course meant people who lived in them. "Hopefully they have something to eat," he said to himself, rubbing his stomach.

About ten minutes later, he reached the landmass which were actually an archipelago of islands. The buildings-or temples as he could see now- were very ornately designed with statues almost everywhere.

Seeing an open courtyard, he decided this would be a good landing spot. "Alright Nimbus, you can stop here," he said. The cloud descended down where Gohan told it to and halted.

He jumped off the cloud, knapsack in hand, and watched as the cloud took off into the sky. Turning back to temple, he saw not one person in the vicinity. Another look behind him revealed a statue of a monk.

Walking over to it, he stopped to gaze at it. Whoever this was, it was clear that this man was put in high regard as he had several ornaments around his neck and a look on his face to indicate that he had vast amounts of knowledge.

But there was still something off. "That's weird, I thought whoever lived here would've came out by now," he commented, now looking past the statue and into an open hallway.

Walking past the statue, he jogged over to the other parts of the temple to find that there really was no one living here. He peeked into doors, looked underneath tables, and opened closets; all amounting to nothing.

Gohan sighed. "Well, I better move on then," he muttered, walking out of the same hallway in front of the statue. Looking up to the sky above, he cupped his hand around his mouth. "Nimbus!" he called out. The cloud appeared at his call and stopped before him.

Jumping on top of the cloud, he then set off again, this time hoping his next stop would actually have people.

* * *

Gohan looked on at the endless expanse that was the ocean, wondering when he would again see land. It had been hours since he left the temple on the mountains and it felt like this trip was even longer than the one to Planet Namek.

He was high up in the sky, but he saw a small but very densely forested island up ahead. Standing up, he allowed Nimbus to drop down below to see what was on this island.

Nearly touching the waters, he rocketed forward. It came into view and he saw a huge jungle that was tightly packed and trees in close quarters with one another.

Stopping next to the island, he prepared to jump but what happened next was shocking. The island just...shifted? It moved at a speed that Gohan knew was not normal for any island, even for plate tectonics. "What's going on here?" Gohan asked himself.

Just as uttered those words, the island stopped moving. Waves crashed on its branch-filled shores due to the sudden halt. Gohan kept his guard up; the unknown could be a very dangerous thing.

He was starting think that was true when he saw a black outline in the water in front of the island. Water moved out of its way as the object rose up. Gohan's jaw dropped. Of all the possibilities...a head!

This wasn't an island, it was a full-blown creature! Its giant eyes bore into Gohan, but not in a way that would worry Gohan. More like judging him, seeing if he was worthy to be trusted.

He dropped his guard, slowly relaxing his fighting stance as he stared back. "Wow," he breathed out. He didn't think he could name a creature he saw as majestic-looking as this one. The dinosaurs back home paled in comparison to this by a long shot.

He was surprised when he heard a low voice from the giant creature, but never having opened its mouth. "A lost soul seeking guidance," its voice rumbled, coming out as a statement.

Gohan took a step back on the cloud in surprise. "How did you know that?" he asked, not that he needed to because he already knew what it was talking about. He didn't even have to say anything and the creature had him figured out like that?

Composing himself, he put his arms into an anatomical position. "Maybe you can help me. I'm trying to find a way home to where I came from, but I have no idea to go," he said.

The giant turtle creature stayed silent and closed its eyes. The waves of the ocean and the slight breeze being the only thing audible in the vicinity, Gohan waited for what it had to say.

It opened its eyes. "Seeking answers from fallible mortals, large or small, leads one to a constant cycle of pursuit. They remain on the path of confusion with no end to the plight of the seeker," it said, the deep voice echoing in Gohan's head. "Someone with a true mind and a true heart looks within to perceive the truth, no matter the harshness of it."

He was awed at the wisdom being conveyed by the turtle, but he didn't forget to understand the true meaning behind its words. He didn't know if it was his body language, but he spoke in a way that he could understand, metaphorically. It was telling him to look within himself, his gut instinct, on what he thought.

He thought about everything Katara had told him.

 _"Well, you're in the Southern Water Tribe village."_

 _"The Fire Nation took them from us."_

 _"That's not a place I've ever heard of. Is that in the Earth Kingdom?"_

Then, he thought about that fateful day, back in Gingertown. The day that changed his life around, for worse or for good, he couldn't tell which.

 _"I wish you would just damn yourself to a place where you could never get in my way and no one could find you!"_

Gohan clenched his fists and sucked in a breathe, the reality of what was wished for fully dawning on him.

No more had to be said, he got what he asked for from the wise creature. Just not the way he was hoping for. That didn't mean he wouldn't give up on returning to where he came from. He couldn't give up hope.

Gohan bowed slightly in respect for its wisdom nonetheless. He looked back at the turtle sadly, his eyes saying it all. "I see," was all he could respond with. "I'm guessing it's the same with my powers then," he stated, a defeated tone taking place.

The turtle did nothing to confirm that. "A pure soul such as yourself in a world of strife. I sense a deeper understanding in your eyes, young one, but do not fall into the illusions of the world," he said to him. Gohan lifted his head and looked back in confusion. It continued on. "Power comes in response to a need, not a desire."

At this, Gohan was thoroughly astounded. That was what his dad told him back when they were training in the Time Chamber. Back then, he didn't fully take in the meaning of his words. But now that he was older and experienced, those words hit him hard at home.

As if it knew what Gohan was thinking, the giant turtle raised a colossal palm out from underneath the waters below.

The Saiyan stood their, watching as it placed one finger on his forehead and one on his sternum. A bright light manifested from those fingers, shining like a beacon with the reflection from the water adding to the effect.

Its voice rumbled again. "You have the need, so you shall be granted the power." The light died down as its palm slowly pulled back.

Gohan opened his eyes once the light faded. Gazing at his palm, he closed it into a fist and reopened it again. He couldn't tell for sure, but it felt like he had been reinvigorated in a way. It wasn't his ki that he was feeling, but something entirely new.

The turtle began to recede back. "I have given you the element of fire. But beware, use it wisely. The world will not be so kind to you if they find you have control of this element," it said vaguely.

The Saiyan looked back up to the turtle with confusion. "What do you mean? What would happen?" he asked, still remaining stationary on his cloud.

The wise turtle kept receding back. "Time will tell," was all it said before it became a speck in the distance, disappearing into the horizon.

All Gohan could do was stand there, wondering what he meant by that. "The element of fire huh," he said to himself. Taking another look at his clenched fist, he relaxed it and let it hang by his side.

He sighed. "Alright Nimbus, let's go." The cloud then blasted off into the sky above, their journey continuing once more.

* * *

The wind rushed past Gohan's face as Nimbus carried him on, but he didn't even notice it. A sight he had been waiting for so long had finally arrived.

There was a town up ahead near the coastline, a small one compared to others he had seen before. It was a start though, because he was eager to get something to eat other than sea prunes and broth.

He reached the outskirts of the town, which was surrounded by forests and shrubs. A small smile slowly made its way on his face, happy to see the lush greenery he was so familiar with. "Gee, it's been a while," he commented.

Nimbus slowly descended downward and stopped near edge of the forest. Gohan jumped off with his knapsack in hand, landing with a soft thud. He turned around to wave his trusted cloud off. "Alright Nimbus, it's goodbye for now then. See ya!"

With that, the cloud once again flew off, and Gohan went back to the matter at hand. Strapping his luggage around his shoulder, he made his way to the small town. He could tell that the buildings were very simple, being made out of mostly wood and coated with little paint on their exterior.

But their designs were oddly old-fashioned, reminding of his great-grandfather's old hut that housed his dad for so long. The rooftops were single-peaked with the sides curving slightly so the corners could protrude out.

Continuing on, he kept looking at the buildings while wondering what kind of place he was in. What he didn't notice were the questionable stares he was receiving from the town's folks. Some stared at his obviously outlandish Water Tribe garments, others -mainly girls- giggled amongst each other.

One man caught his attention as he walked up to tell him of just that. He was a scruffy looking man wearing mostly rags, but mean in stature. His mustache wrinkled. "Hey kid," he addressed him. Gohan stopped walking and glanced up to see whether he was being addressed.

The Saiyan pointed a finger at himself. "Who me?" he asked. The man nodded and coughed a bit, hacking up some spit. This, of course, made Gohan scrunch his face in slight aversion.

He cleared his throat and poked Gohan in the chest. "Yeah, you. Wha'cha doin' here wearin' that Water Tribe get-up? Got messed up by one of them soldiers or somethin'?" he interrogated, his voice coming out as scratchy as a bat.

Clearly at a loss for words, Gohan only stared blankly. "Uuhhh..." Whatever this stranger was saying made no sense to him.

Seeing that, the man rubbed his mustache. "Ah, forget it. Just try'na let you know these townsfolk givin' you them awkward looks is all, if ya ain't noticed yet," he told the still-confused newcomer.

Looking around him, Gohan did see a few people staring at him without hiding it. It then became clear to him why they were doing that and turned back to the man. He then sniffed himself, lifting his arm slightly. "Is it because I smell?" he asked.

The scruffy man dropped his shoulders in disbelief. "What the- I just said why they was starin' at you, kid. Your clothes, they Water Tribe colors, not Earth Kingdom, ya get me?" he asked roughly.

Not taking note of the man's tone, Gohan looked at his clothes and compared them to the wear of other people in the vicinity. _'What's wrong with what I'm wearing? It looks fine to me. But...'_ he thought but stopped to look more closely. Now that he mentioned, his clothes did seem out of the ordinary when put next to the clothes of the other townspeople. But he didn't exactly get why that was a big deal; they were just normal clothes after all.

Gohan was snapped out of his internal and external reflections when the man pointed to something behind him. "Go get ya'self some real clothes kid. Xin's got plenty of 'em." He looked to where he pointed and saw a decent-looking general store behind him. A few people walked out of the front door with fresh clothes in hand, mostly green being the main color.

Still not understanding why this man was telling him this, Gohan shrugged and began to walk to the store aforementioned. If the guy was trying to warn him about something, then it was probably safe to take his word for it.

He walked in and saw an assortment of clothes folded neatly on many tables. Not one to spend time dwelling on what to wear, he got what he thought would suit him just fine: a plain green short-sleeved shirt with dark green trousers and a blue sash to go around his waist. "That should do it," he said to himself.

Walking up to the main counter, he placed the clothes on it and the clerk nodded in greetings, giving him a friendly smile. But then he realized something important and a look of slight panic made itself known. "Oh man, I can't believe it. I forgot that I don't even have any money," he fretted and he picked up the merchandise he picked up.

But he paused as the clerk waved him off. "Don't worry. Everything's on the house. Profits were amazing yesterday so I felt generous. You can change in there if you want," he said to Gohan, pointing him to a small door.

The Saiyan sighed in relief and smiled back. "Wow really? Thanks mister!" With that, he walked over to the room and changed into his new clothes. Tightening his sash, he walked out of the store with his old clothes secured in his knapsack.

After a little bit more walking, he was about to walk into a small restaurant when he overheard a couple girls talking.

One girl shook her head. "I'm telling you. They're a bunch of cheap pigs," she said.

Another girl chimed in. "I know. Like, how could they charge us so much for a mango drink?" she complained.

The third girl nodded. "I think we should never come back here again, am I right?" she said to her group, continuing their conversation out of earshot.

Gohan stopped his hand from reaching the door and slowly pulled it back. "Oh man, looks like my luck ran out here," he said dejectedly. Walking away, he looked to see if there was any other places he could eat. Nothing of the sort seemed to make itself known, as he saw most of the buildings were houses.

Out of nowhere, he heard a large crowd of people begin to yell. Turning around he saw nothing of that sort. He scratched his head. "Now that's weird. What's going on?" Picking up his pace, he turned at a few corners to get back to the middle of the town.

A large crowd of people had gathered, but what caught his attention were the five mean looking men sitting on top of some mean-looking rhinos. He subconsciously clenched his fists in reaction to what was happening: they were pushing people around, essentially being bullies in his eyes.

The bearded one in the middle laughed loudly and got off of his rhino. "So you didn't want to pay for our stuff, you old man. Did I hear that right?" he asked, towering over an old man on the ground, who looked too terrified to even respond.

The grunt then kicked the man in the face, sending him flying a few meters and landing with a hard thud. Dazed, he yelled in terror when a blast of fire shot out of the grunt's fist. Throwing himself back, he avoided the blast in time but it didn't do anything to help his situation.

Clasping his hands, he looked to his assailant for mercy. "Please, s-spare me!" he begged, fresh tears running down his face.

Far behind them, Gohan gritted his teeth in rage. "Bastard," he muttered to himself, cursing the grunts and the crowd as well. How could all these people just watch and let this go on? Didn't they have any empathy for the poor man?

Gohan snarled, ready to jump in and stop this madness from continuing. Throwing his bag to the side, he pushed his legs off the ground to run over.

In his anger, he hadn't noticed that his hair and eyes had gone through a change.

The grunt then glowered at him. "I should probably make an example of you to the rest of these low-lives here," he said, gesturing to the crowd that had gathered. He raised a palm and a flame sparked into existence.

Smirking, he lifted his hand a little higher. "Of what happens when trash like you tries to act up." Pulling his hand back, he prepared to deliver the final death blow. The old man covered his head with his arms, trying to protect it from the brutal torture that was to come.

A few seconds passed and it never came. Peeking his eyes through his hands, then letting them fall completely, his eyes widened. Before him stood a figure who had grabbed the firebender's hand, holding it in place.

His opponent wore the same shocked expression, but mixed with agitation as well. He tried to pry his wrist from the guy who suddenly appeared out of nowhere but with no avail.

Gohan scowled, not letting his grip falter. "It's _you_ who's the low-life here," he said lowly. Pulling the man towards him, the Saiyan then kicked him straight in the abdomen. The man screamed as he was sent flying, remaining in the air for a few more moments before falling back to the ground with a hard smack.

Turning towards the rest of the thugs, he fixed his glare on them. "That was your only warning. Leave _now_ ," he snarled.

They were not faltered by his bold words. One of them hopped off his rhino, followed by the rest. One stood in front of them all. "Oh yeah? Just who do you think you are, boy?" he asked arrogantly.

Gohan didn't say anything in return, as he kept his glare at his opponents and stood his ground. A rigid silence permeated the air around them as Gohan faced off against the obvious thugs of this place.

Getting back up, the man who Gohan had kicked away growled and yelled to his men. "Fools! Are you just going to stand there staring at him all day? Do something!" he commanded. Following their superior's commands, they grabbed their weapons and ran to attack the Saiyan.

One rather stocky, bearded thug charged at him with a spear, only for it to be grabbed by Gohan. He snapped it in half and threw his end of the spear behind his head. The thug could only gasp before he was hit with a sucker punch to the face which knocked him down for the count.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Gohan ducked a swipe of a sword. His attacker could only gasp before hit with Gohan's foot square in the jaw, knocking him out as well.

Everyone watching couldn't believe their eyes. Who was this mysterious youth and how was he standing up to these firebenders? They were in awe as Gohan picked them apart with next to no effort at all.

The remaining soldiers halted their futile efforts and took a step back in shock. "Wh-What the hell?!" one thug exclaimed. That was the last word out of them before Gohan rushed up to each of them and gave a chop to the neck, rendering them unconscious. Falling like a sack of potatoes, their weapons clanged to the dusty ground below followed by the men themselves.

Gohan paused to make sure he had properly taken care of them before turning back to the leader himself. Who, he might add, was shaking at his knees in obvious fear. He narrowed his eyes and made his way over to him slowly, one step at a time.

With a nervous grin, the leader extended out his arms shakily. "H-hey kid, l-listen I d-don't want any troubl-AH!" he squeaked when Gohan got closer and stood right in front of him.

Keeping his scowl, he bore his eyes into the leaders own. "I don't want to have to repeat myself. Leave and never come back," Gohan said edgily. The leader gulped at this but at the same time took another step behind him.

He then chuckled and cocked his fist back. "Heh, you won't need to worry about repeating yourself ever again! HAH!" He shot his fist forward suddenly, fully intending on burning this upstart's face into an ugly mess.

But that couldn't happen of course, since his fire-filled fist was caught bare-handed by Gohan. Coupled with the dangerous look that dawned on Gohan's face, the leader knew that he screwed up...big time.

"Hey, wait a second just let me-UGH!" the leader's futile pleas were cut off by a right hook to the gut by Gohan, making him curve over as he was knocked unconscious as well. The Saiyan stepped aside as the leader's body fell face-first to the ground.

Exhaling a bit, he relaxed his hardened features. It was people like him that made his anger boil over. How could one just flaunt and abuse their power over people who were defenseless to begin with and when the roles were reversed, tuck their tails to make a run for it when the situation got bad for them? He knew people like him all too well and it was a shame that they still existed even in the new world he was sent to.

Further thoughts were cut off as the crowd of people behind him cheered. Turning back around, he saw that the populace was approaching him excitedly. One particular scruffy, old man that he met before stood out from the rest of them. Strange, it didn't look like he recognized him at all.

He stopped and took a moment to catch his breath. "Wow, I can't believe what my eyes just saw! You took out them nasty firebending scoundrels like an Earth Rumbler!" he exclaimed. "Who the hell are you?"

Gohan was a bit surprised, but concluded that the old guy didn't really remember him. Not that he expected him to. "Well, I did meet-" he was cut off by the other old man he had saved earlier, who cut through the crowd to walk up to him. Turning around, he yelled at the scruffy old man.

"Fong, talk with some tact, will you? You don't just say stuff like that to spirits!" he scolded. Gohan raised an eyebrow at that. Did he just call him a spirit? Looking at his arms and frame, he was sure he looked just like the rest of them.

Fong's mustache wrinkled in confusion. "Sento, what the hell's you talkin' about now? Kickin' around them firebenders don't mean he's some spirit, just that he's tough," said Fong, crossing his arms. Behind him were murmurs from the crowd, some voicing agreement with some opposition to his claim mixed in.

The old man named Sento pressed on. "I know you're not the smartest of all people Fong, but how would you explain that golden hair and those blue eyes?" he asked him.

At this, Gohan inaudibly took a sharp breath. _'Did he just say golden hair? That could only mean I transformed!'_ But how could that be? He remembered trying to transform all throughout his time in the South Pole, which ended in naught. Eventually he had given up on that endeavor, but here it seems that his transformation being lost wasn't the case.

Looking back at the crowd of people, he saw they were still arguing over whether he was some spirit or not. Deciding to end their pointless argument, he raised his voice. "Look everyone, I'm no spirit," he began, ending all discussions and putting everyone's focus on him. "I just saw what those thugs were doing to this man right here and I had to step in because no one else would."

Sento, the old man he had saved, put a fist next to his palm and bowed. "Thank you venerable spirit. If you had not intervened when you did, I wouldn't even be alive right now. I'm in your debt," he said sincerely. The crowd behind him also voiced their thanks as well, calling him a spirit the same way Sento was.

Seeing as it would be harder for him to convince them to believe he was _not_ a spirit, he nodded. "Um...you're welcome I guess." He gestured to the five men he had taken down with his hand. "You all should probably keep them someplace where they won't hurt anyone else," suggested Gohan.

Feeling his work here was done, he went over to grab his knapsack that he threw aside earlier and put it around his shoulders. He made his cue to leave the village, astounding the townspeople as he trekked over to the main gate of the village.

Cheers erupted once more, fading with each step he took away from them. It kind of embarrassed him, this kind of attention and praise. It was precisely the reason he had not challenged Hercule's claims of Cell's defeat because the press and news reporters would never leave him alone. His mother, primarily, was still devastated over his father's death and...

Not wanting to go down that road again, he shook his head of those thoughts. Nearing the main gate of the town, a small tap on the shoulder made him stop in his tracks. A girl had approached him with a something the shape of a cube wrapped in her hands, complete with a smile akin to gratitude on her face.

She must have realized she was staring at him and a blush tinted her cheeks. "Um, thank you...great spirit for saving us," she stuttered while fidgeting nervously.

He sensed this and gave a comforting smile in return. "Don't mention it. It was the least I could do," he said to her. The girl blushed again, leaving Gohan confused and made him want to scratch his head. _'Did I say something?'_ he thought to himself.

Extending out the box in her hands, she met him with her own smile. "My grandpa, the one you saved, wanted me to give you this as a thanks. I don't know if spirits get hungry or not, but I put some food together and a couple of silver coins the people put in," she stated. A subtle frown appeared on his face. Why did everyone keep calling him a spirit? All he did was stop a couple thugs from harming the old man.

Nonetheless, he accepted her gift. "Thanks," was all he said. Holding on to the box, he nodded to her and left the village, into the forest beyond it.

* * *

A stream was nearby, which was good because he really wanted to see his reflection for himself. Listening to the sound of flowing water, Gohan reached the small stream and crouched down.

Indeed, the townspeople were not lying. "I can't believe it," he breathed out. His spiky, golden locks had somehow returned along with his teal eyes and he didn't know how it happened.

Sure, he had gotten angry back in the village, but that didn't explain why it happened now and not back in the South Pole, where he had spent weeks for the sole purpose of trying to access his powers.

Questions like these only served to make his head spin, so he took a deep breath and exhaled, easing some of his tension. He stood up and ran his hand through his hair. "Maybe...maybe it's because I'm a Saiyan. Vegeta did say that this was a transformation, so it might just be a part of me," thinking out loud, he then put a finger to his chin. "I do feel stronger than before but not by much. Still, that probably means my ki was able to increase," he concluded. At least he was getting somewhere, even though it happened by accident.

With that train of thought, his eyes widened. "Speaking of which, how am I supposed to go back to normal?" Closing his eyes, he tried to look within himself to find his source of power, just like Piccolo taught him.

Something was there, an unfamiliar type of energy that he had next to no knowledge on how to utilize it. He didn't know how to explain it, but this new source felt...bright and hot, a new kind of flame within him that was not yet tapped.

He then remembered what the giant turtle had told him. "The turtle said something about giving me the element of fire, so was this what he meant?" he asked himself. Closing his eyes, he attempted to relax out of Super Saiyan. The strange energy inside him was clearly fueling his transformation, so if he tried to rest his new power, he could drop out of this state.

The flame within him burned hot like a mighty inferno. Not unfamiliar to him at all but it was strange having little control over this power. With every breath he took, his flame became smaller and smaller until it became gentle.

With one final exhale, he felt as though he had powered down. Checking his reflection, he saw that his jet black hair and obsidian eyes had returned. Satisfied, he then looked at the gift that was wrapped in a cloth given to him by the town.

Gohan untied the knot and it revealed two rice cakes and a bag of coins. He grinned and ate both of the rice cakes right away. "Not bad," he said licking his lips. They didn't taste like the homemade version but this would have to do for now.

With the bag of coins in hand, he had a great idea. "I should probably get an actual meal with this," eyeing the green sack of money, he then decided to go back to that village.

Only to realize he had forgotten the way he came from. Shrugging, Gohan kept walking on the hopes that another town would eventually be in his path.

* * *

The town he walked into wasn't much different from the last one. It had the same types of buildings but was surrounded by a stone wall. He was glad that he wasn't getting any stares from people, the first time being uncomfortable enough. In the distance, he could see a small building with some tables situated outside.

Figuring it would be his best bet for food, he walked inside to see that it was some kind of bar or cafe. Seeing there was no line of people near the counter, he made his way over to the clerk, who nodded to him.

Gohan looked at the assortment of foods and meats behind the counter, making his mouth slightly water. Oh how he could just eat through all of that food and still have room for more. The roasted duck was the eye-candy for him though.

He then smiled. "Hi, how much is it for ten of the roast ducks?" he asked casually. "Oh, and the mango smoothie too!" added the hungry Saiyan.

The clerk's eyes became saucers. "You can't be..." he trailed off and decided not to continue once he saw the innocent expression on his face. "Never mind that. That would be 5 silver coins," he informed.

Gohan pulled out his sack of money and pulled out what the clerk had asked for. "Here you go, I have that." He handed him the money and was prompted to sit at any table as the food would come to him.

He sat down at the table he had spotted before which was still empty. Settling himself down, he eagerly awaited his long-awaited meal.

"Did you hear about that golden guy who kicked those firebender's ass?"

Gohan perked up at this and looked to see who had said that. Two burly looking men sat across from each other in the table in front of Gohan's.

One nodded. "Yeah, I heard that some spirit came and mopped the floor with those jerks," he said. "What was his name again? The..." he trailed off, not remembering what he was going to say.

The other snapped his fingers. "Oh! I think his name's 'The Golden Warrior' or something like that," he said offhandedly.

His friend had a skeptical look on his face. "You really think this is legit? I mean, there have been a bunch of rumors like this before," he said with a hushed tone.

"But which one of them had golden hair and could put down five firebenders at once? Not one, I'll tell you that much."

Gohan listened intently and was pretty sure that he was their subject of discussion. Taking his ears off of their conversation once it shifted to other topics, he twiddled his thumbs. "I can't believe rumors are already spreading," he muttered to himself. Thinking about the name he was given, he internally cringed. "And Golden Warrior? Really? Why couldn't I get a better name?" It was so simple and obvious for him. He needed something cool, like Saiya-something...the Great Sai-!

"Uh, ten roast ducks and a mango?"

Gohan was snapped from his musings and saw that a man was barely able to keep 10 plates and a drink perfectly balanced, using his arms and one leg to keep all the plates and glass together. A rather amusing sight, but he thanked the server and took all the food he ordered.

Rubbing his hands together, he grinned. "Chow time!" And he dug in, much to the horror of the people eating around him.

* * *

 **Expect the next chapter of this story and my other story called 'Escape' to be out on or before September 1st.**

 **So I guess you can say this story is finally picking up now. The remainder of this arc will mostly deal with Gohan's travels and experiences in this new world that he has to face alone. No Goku, no Piccolo, and none of his allies to help him through this ordeal now.**

 **Surprised to see Super Saiyan make its appearance? No this is not fan service; I wrote this chapter back in June. It's just that there is** **n** **o way in hell am I gonna waste an opportunity to bring back the Golden Warrior. If you're a real DBZ fan, you know what I'm talking about.**

 **Also, I've had a question that has been bugging me for a while: Who took the most L's in Avatar? Zuko or Sokka? I want to say Sokka because he was quite literally bashed throughout the series but Zuko is also up there too because he never once won a fight except against Zhao. If I'm missing something else, let me know in the review box below.**


	6. I: The Deserter

**Arc I. A New World**

 **Chapter 6: The Deserter**

* * *

Taking one step back, a man dropped his hammer to the ground, shaking as he did so. "W-wait, can we work something out?" he squeaked, clenching the bag of coins in his hand.

Gohan glared at him. "No," was all he had to say. If he wouldn't cooperate, then it was time to do it the hard way. Taking one step forward, he sprinted over to the crook to whom it felt instantaneous. Cocking his fist back, he shot it forward at the man's head.

The crook shrieked in an unmanly manner, covering his head with his hands. When the blow didn't hit like he thought it would, he peeked out of his hands to see the Golden Warrior standing there calmly. Oh, and the bag of coins was now out of his clutches as well.

Scrambling back, he decided to make a run for it but was yanked back just as quickly by Gohan, his serious expression never wavering. "I'll never understand how people can hurt others with joy and then act like the victim when the tables are turned," he said, more to himself than his opponent.

Seeing as how he was still struggling to escape his grip, Gohan saw no other choice but to let the townspeople deal with him. A quick chop to the neck rendered him out cold and he fell to the ground. The Saiyan looked down, an unreadable expression on his face.

Cheers behind him caught his attention. He remembered exactly what had led him to this. It was just the usual day for him; roaming the land, trying to find some way to go home, go into a town, see bad people doing bad things, and straightening things out from there. In this case, a man stole a bag of coins from an old man's shop coincidentally at the same time he was entering it to buy supplies.

All in all, it looked like everyone was pleased with him. Throwing the crook over his shoulder, he then walked back to the crowd. Two constables stepped forward, and they bowed to him, making him internally sigh.

One of them nodded to him. "Thank you, great spirit. We've been trying to catch him for weeks now but it looks like you had done the job for us," he thanked. Gohan only smiled in response. They took the thug in and chained his hands together.

Looking over to the shop owner, he then motioned everyone to step aside to let him through. He placed the bag of coins in the old man's hands. "Here you go. I made sure that he didn't take any of it with him," Gohan said to him. He was surprised when tears pooled in the elder's eyes and pulled him into an embrace.

The elder let him go, looking at him with pure gratefulness. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart, good spirit. If I had lost those earnings...I could've been thrown into jail for not paying my debts," he said, the tears flowing from his eyes freely.

The little girl next to him, presumably his granddaughter, perked up as well. "You saved my papa!" she exclaimed. Gohan beamed, letting out an actual grin. He ruffled her head of hair, earning him a cute giggle.

The rest of the townspeople clapped at the heartwarming sight. Soon, chants of 'Golden Warrior!' erupted. Gohan's cheeks tinted red, finding their praise a little overbearing at this point. Whenever stuff like this started happening, he made it his unofficial cue to get on out of there. Best to do that instead of staying and get hounded by hordes of people asking him why his hair was blonde.

One past occurrence was enough for him.

It was best that he left while the crowd of people was still lost in their chanting. In a quick burst of speed, he quickly sped out of the village itself. He jumped right over the crowd of people and ran as fast as he could, leaving them confused when they didn't see the legend incarnate himself in front of them no more.

* * *

"And that'll be 2 silver coins, young lad," a vendor said, holding his hand out. Gohan reached in his bag on the counter and pulled out the requested amount.

He put the coins in the vendor's hands. "Here you go, mister." Then he got back in return what he had eyed for a bit: a sweet, delicious mango. He licked his lips. Oh, he could already feel his mouth watering at the sight of it.

The vendor smiled. "I can see why you'd be happy to get that. The prices of fruits like those are outright ridiculous these days," he said.

"But if you have higher prices, then why is it a bad thing?" Gohan asked as he put the mango in a pocket in his bag.

A somber look appeared on the man's face. "The prices have soared but so have the taxes. I barely get to keep any of the money I make anymore because of it. Added with the family I have to take care of, it's hard getting my work's due."

Gohan looked back to him, feeling sympathetic to the kind man. "Why doesn't the village just lower the taxes?" he asked.

The vendor sighed and closed his eyes. "The Fire Nation doesn't exactly let us choose our own prices anymore ever since they marched into Hmong Village a couple months ago," he told the curious Saiyan.

He piqued at the mention of the Fire Nation. So far, the only people he had met that were Fire Nation were a bunch of thugs and bullies. This Fire Nation did not seem like the kind of people to be lenient on others based on what he's seen so far.

But he still had to ask. "Why are they here? In this village, I mean," he questioned.

The produce vendor looked at him as if he were nuts. "What do you mean by that? Don't you know the Fire Nation has waged war on us for the past 100 years?" he asked the Saiyan.

This was news to Gohan as he widened his eyes. A hundred years of non-stop war? He stood there for a bit contemplating that information before turning back to the vendor. "How come they haven't been stopped yet? Isn't there anyone who wanted to stand up to them?" Gohan replied back.

The vendor shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. There have been people who rose up in the beginning to fight back against them, but the Fire Nation had a bigger and better military. We just don't have the resources to fight back as one army yet," he answered. Sitting down on his bar stool, he gave a bitter smile. "That's what my son told me right before he joined the front lines."

Instantly, Gohan felt a wave of sadness wash over him. It seemed like many people here were being affected by this war that was going on, men like this vendor's son were being sacrificed everyday so they could fight for their freedom.

Just then, a girl walked right up to the man and handed him a small pouch. "Here you go dad," she said to him. She looked about his age, Gohan thought, and she had her hair in a ponytail. She wore a regular green tunic with a black belt around her waist, much like he had seen most of the people in this land wear.

The vendor simply smiled and put the pouch in a case inside a drawer. "Thank you Miyuki," he replied.

Her father smiled and cleared his throat. "Anyways..." the vendor began once more, turning Gohan's attention back to him. "I think there is hope now." The Saiyan stayed silent, listening to what he had to say.

Her interest piqued, the daughter leaned in. "Hope? For what?" she asked, confused on their conversation.

"Haven't you heard? News of this man has been spreading around like a storm all over the Earth Kingdom," he paused, a wishful look appearing on his features. "Someone that calls himself 'The Golden Warrior' has put the Fire Nation on edge and kicking them out of dozens of towns," he said to him, a smile now visible.

Miyuki lit up at that and clasped her hands. "Oh yeah! I heard about this guy, he showed up about a month ago and pushed the firebenders back. He's done more in one month than our troops have done in a century," she rambled. "Some say that he's actually a spirit from the Spirit World because of his golden hair."

Gohan paused at that, nervousness creeping up on him. What these two were saying was true; ever since he figured out how to willingly become a Super Saiyan again a month ago, he had been using that as a disguise to fight against the bullies and thugs he came across in his travels. He figured it would be best if he wasn't in his base form while drawing attention to himself.

He shuddered a bit at that thought. Kami knows how many people would keep swarming him if they all knew who he was.

Her father frowned a bit. "Now Miyuki, you know our troops are trying their hardest to help our cause. You shouldn't say things like that," he reprimanded her choice of words.

She lowered her head and frowned. "But you know it's true dad. We're were fighting a losing battle until the Golden Warrior showed up," she tried to defend herself.

The vendor nodded and continued on. "I know what you mean. This spirit might just give our troops the morale they need. Maybe I'm going too far with this but...I think he might even emancipate the entire Earth Kingdom!" he exclaimed, slamming a fist down on the counter for the added effect.

Gohan halfheartedly chuckled, a forced smile on his face. "Hehe...um well I hope he does just that ahaha," he said lamely.

The vendor nodded, oblivious to his tone. "That's what we all wish for...what is your name, young man?" he asked curiously.

"My name is Gohan, sir," he replied back.

The vendor raised his brow in interest. "Gohan, what a peculiar name," he mused to himself. "It was a pleasure chatting with you Gohan, but I have somebody waiting behind you," Gohan turned around to see a person waiting patiently behind him.

The Saiyan acknowledged that and bowed, making his motion to leave. Finding a table a distance away, he walked over to it and sat down, eagerly pulling his mango out of his bag.

It had been a month since he left the South Pole. In that time, he had encountered many villages and towns everywhere he went. Yet, any way to get back home still evaded him. Long since confirming that this world was different from his, he thought that there could be someone out there who would know about a kind of magic that was capable of being more powerful than Shenron's.

If magic was what brought him here, then he'd have to find a way to go back the same way.

But that was another problem in and of itself. What were the chances he was going to find somebody like that in the first place? Slim to none, he'd say.

Gohan furrowed his brow. "But I can't give up yet," he muttered to himself. Even if it took him weeks, months, or even years he would still keep searching until he made it back home to his family and friends.

"Uh, excuse me?"

The teenager blinked and looked off to his side to see that same girl from earlier standing next to him, a curious expression painted on her face.

Gohan straightened his back and gestured towards her. "Oh, hi there. Could I help you?" he asked politely.

Miyuki put her hand on her arm and looked to the ground. "Y-yeah, I was wondering if I could sit with you," she said faintly but Gohan could hear every word.

He blinked once more before giving her a smile and nodded. "Of course. Have a seat," he gestured to the seat across from him. He didn't really know who she was but it was nice to just talk with new people once in a while that didn't have the inclination to fight or kill him.

She accepted his invitation and made herself comfortable on the chair, letting out a deep exhale. Meeting his gaze, she decided to speak. "So...are you enjoying your mango?" she asked hesitantly, before looking away.

This time, Gohan just raised an eyebrow before looking back at what he ate. The mango did taste pretty good, he couldn't lie. He let out a slight chuckle. "Yeah, it was a great snack. Definitely worth the money, that's for sure," he said.

The girl across from him just nodded. "So I didn't really catch your name before...what was it again?" The question came out more as a statement.

Gohan pointed a thumb at himself. "Oh, my name's Gohan. What about you?" he asked in turn before extending a hand out.

She stared at his hand for a moment before accepting the handshake herself. She smiled softly. "My name is Miyuki. I'm the daughter of that vendor you got your food from," she stated.

"Right. He seems like a very nice man," Gohan complimented.

Miyuki looked over to her father conversing with his customers and grinned. "Yeah, he is. He's also the best father in the whole world. Well, to me at least," she added. "He works so hard for my mother and I but still somehow makes time for us at the end of the day."

Miyuki placed her arms on the table and leaned slightly forward. "So, tell me about yourself Gohan. Where are you from?" she asked. This time, she seemed more comfortable talking to him.

Gohan widened his eyes a bit and scratched his head. "I'm from Mount Paozu," he said. Seeing the confused look on her face, he spoke again before she could. "I have to mention that nearly nobody knows about it. It's a long way from here."

She could only nod to that. "That's really nice. What's it like over there?"

His eyes lit up. "It's really nice there. So many trees, countless animals to go play with, beautiful weather, and the best lakes where you can catch fish," he said. There were so many things to do there that always made him discover new things about the mountain he lived on all the time.

"Please, I already paid you yesterday!"

A familiar voice cried out in terror, catching both of their attention. It was the same man who he was conversing with earlier, but this time he wasn't alone. Standing menacingly before him were a group of burly men who looked like they meant business.

The one in the middle though, he looked like he was their leader judging by the way he stood out from the rest of them. He was bald. sported a thin goatee, and was insanely jacked, eerily reminding him of someone he had the displeasure of meeting before.

Their leader smirked and a small flame burst forth in his out-lifted palm. "Listen here peasant, you're not the one who decides when you've paid your debts, we do," he told the vendor. Stretching his leg back, he brought it forward and kicked through the wood, splattering the produce all over the ground and destroying the stand.

Gohan gritted his teeth and stood up, ready to jump in. He noticed something odd this time; why wasn't anyone bothering to even glance at the man? Looking around, he saw everyone just moving along, paying no heed to the confrontation taking place. He had never felt this level of disgust towards people in a long time, not since Cell and Freeza.

The shopkeeper looked as shell-shocked as one could be and fell to his knees, painful sobs escaping his throat at this point. Looking back up, he pleaded with the leader. "Ryuu...please. Spare me and my family, I have four children and-" he was promptly kicked in the side of his head by said person as he yelled out in pain.

His daughter stood up in shock, covering her mouth in a silent scream before rushing over towards him. "Dad!" Her hand almost touched her elder's back before her arm was yanked back by one of the men behind the leader. She glared at him and struggled to escape his grasp. "Let me go!" she yelled out.

The leader, Ryuu, ignored her and picked her father up by his collar and made him stand. "It's Captain Ryuu to you, Yin. And I don't really care about your bastard offsprings," pulling him closer so they were face to face, he took a dangerous tone. "You better cough up those taxes right now or else I'll just have to take your precious family from you forever," he threatened, glancing back at his daughter.

The vendor named Yun shook his head rapidly, paranoia making itself known. "No please, anything but that. I'll...I'll give you whatever you want. Just don't hurt them," he begged. Ryuu shoved him back to the ground and stompted his foot to the ground for extra measure.

"Well then, what are you waiting for? Cough it up, you filthy peasant," he mocked him. His men snickered, finding the poor man's predicament something to laugh about.

The girl continued to struggle. "No dad, don't do it!" she pleaded with him. A hand was placed over her mouth, preventing her from speaking out further.

Yun looked on in sadness and feared for his daughter's safety. He reached under the wooden and produce pile to search for his coin case. Pulling it out, he looked inside to find several coins still inside the case.

"Get out all of your silver coins," Ryuu commanded, crossing his arms.

The shopkeeper widened his eyes and took a shaky breath. "B-but I'll only have one copper piece. How will I-?"

Ryuu snarled and cut him off. "Listen to me trash," he snatched the case out of the man's hand and socked him in the nose with his left hook. "This right here is the Fire Nation's keep, you got it?" He received no answer as Yun clutched his nose in pain, blood oozing out of it at this point.

Loud grunts and gasps along with thuds filled the air all of a sudden. Ryuu looked behind him only to be shocked to see his men on the ground, unconscious and unmoving. He took on a defensive stance, keeping the case tightly clutched in his arms. "Hey! Who's there? Show yourself!" he yelled out but all he saw was a growing crowd that was equally put off as he was.

Behind him, a tap on the shoulder told him all he needed to know. Ryuu charged a flame filled fist and swung back around only to stumble forward when air was his only contact. Not only that, but the shopkeeper and his daughter had disappeared as well.

He stood in place, his heart pounding in his chest as an uneasy feeling grew within him.

"Looking for me?" a voice behind him questioned.

He spun around again only to lose some of his bravado when he saw who he was up against: the infamous spirit known as the Golden Warrior, the coin case and shopkeeper in one hand and his daughter in the other. It wasn't hard to tell who he was, the golden locks being a dead giveaway.

The captain swallowed thickly, having heard of the stories of the spirit's power being used to drive the Fire Nation out of so many towns and thrashing their soldiers. He then masked his fear with an angry expression and snarled. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" demanded Ryuu.

The Golden Warrior ignored his question and looked back to the shopkeeper, who he helped stand upright. He placed his coin case in the bruised man's hands. "Stand back. I've got this," he told him.

Yun nodded, still in awe at who saved him with his daughter having a matching expression as well. He looked to his child and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Miyuki. Let's go." They took several steps back to watch what was about to happen.

Gohan made sure they were standing a distance away before he looked back to the leader, who was still staring back at him with the sour face. His eyes darkened a bit. "You're gonna pay for that," he said lowly. It had the intended effect as his opponent widened his eyes.

Ryuu then growled. "Damn you freak!" he yelled out. He punched his hand forward and a stream of fire erupted from his fist, headed straight for the Super Saiyan. Gohan rolled out of the way to the side and charged at the firebender.

Growing frustrated, the captain made a sweeping motion, sending a horizontal arc of fire to ensure he wouldn't go anywhere. Unfortunately for him, Gohan ran up and front-flipped over the attack. Landing on the ground with one foot, he used his momentum to propel himself straight to his adversary.

Caught off guard, the captain couldn't react in time as Gohan brought his fist up his abdomen. He coughed up some blood and fell to all fours, pain spreading through his body.

Gohan took a step back and watched him hack up some more blood. "Leave this place forever and never return," he told him. Although he was unsure the captain heard what he said over his own coughing.

Ryuu slowly looked up and met the Golden Warrior's unforgiving teal eyes, boring down on him as if he were weak. Spirit or not, this was enough to infuriate him like never before. "W-why...should I *cough* have to listen to you?" he managed to get out.

Still keeping his neutral stare, the teen Saiyan replied back. "You're not in a position to be asking me that," he stated simply, referring to Ryuu's defeated state. "I already took care of your men and frankly you didn't put up a fight at all, so I'd say you should cut your losses and get on out of here," Gohan continued.

Ryuu kept staring back at him and narrowed his eyes. He then lowered his head in defeat. "Fine...I yield." Getting back up slowly, he grunted in pain while clutching his abs.

Gohan watched him intently as he began trudging over to the town exit, eventually fading out of view as he rode on his rhino or...whatever that was, and left entirely.

He sighed and turned back around to see the same vendor who he conversed with earlier along with his daughter, awestruck at his display of power.

They stopped in front of him and gazed at him with eyes filled with gratitude. "Th-thank you...so much," Yun said shakily, taking a small step forward towards his savior, hand still placed over his bloody nose.

His daughter, Miyuki, also nodded in agreement. "I can't believe it...the Golden Warrior is standing before us dad," she said out loud. "Thank you so much for saving my dad...and me too," she added hastily.

The Super Saiyan gave them a small smile. "Don't mention it," he said. Giving them a two fingered salute, Gohan turned around and made his way towards the village exit.

Yin could only stare in amazement, but there was something about him that struck him as...familiar. That voice...he could have sworn he had heard it somewhere. His daughter saw this and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Is there something wrong dad?" she asked him.

He shook his head slowly and turned his head back to watch his savior's fading frame. "No...but there's something about him that makes me feel like I met him before," the shopkeeper explained.

"Wait!" he heard him call out behind him. Picking up his pace, he seemingly disappeared from view in the villager's eyes as he moved at incomprehensible speeds to them, into the jungles that laid ahead.

What he didn't know was that a hooded figure was watching him intently in the shadows from behind the crowd of people, who were beginning to disperse. The lone figure slipped out of view and headed in the direction Gohan went.

* * *

When he felt that he was far away enough, Gohan slowed his speed down until he was casually walking. The words of the shopkeeper were still in his head, and he was taking this time to digest the new piece of information he was given.

"A hundred years of war," Gohan muttered. He still couldn't fathom how people would want to keep a war going for that long. Though he could suppose that it was the Fire Nation that was the one waging war and not the people of the Earth Kingdom. In his time here, they seemed like people who had enough but didn't have it in them to fight back anymore.

In other words, they had no more hope left.

It was still so crazy to think about how the history of this world starkly contrasted his. Back on his world, the only conflicts he had to worry about were supernatural, such as Cell, Freeza, and the Saiyans; two of them not even belonging to Earth.

His grandpa, the Ox-King was such a jolly man who ruled his kingdom with care and love. He was a great ruler, a man who had qualities that the rulers of this world couldn't even come close to.

It must have been a while since he got lost in his thoughts because he ran right into a tree trunk, smacking his forehead against it. "Ow," he said, rubbing his forehead.

His golden lock of hair came to his attention and Gohan widened his eyes. "Oh no, I forgot to power down," he said out loud. He concentrated on his 'inner fire', which he had informally called it, and decreased its intensity. Closing his eyes, he exhaled, turning his blonde hair back to its normal jet black.

It was still annoying that he had to concentrate before falling out of the form, unlike before where he could do it at will in an instant. Though, he supposed that it was still better that he received the element of fire from the giant turtle which allowed him to access his - much weaker - Super Saiyan state.

At the thought of fire, his interest piqued up as he remembered his fight back at the village. _'_ _Speaking of fire, I have to learn how to make that. I know Mom would be happy if I learned how to cook my own food properly,'_ he amused himself. His one experience in the time chamber would second his claim.

Gohan took on a stance resembling his dad's sparring form with two fingers in front of him and his fist at his side, but then he frowned. "That won't work. Dad's stance is more hand-to-hand combat than actual blasts."

Eventually, he just decided to go for an aggressive posture, since he had observed a more action-suited style when dealing with firebenders. "Alright, here we go," he said as he punched the air. Nothing came out, not even a puff of smoke.

He brought his hand back and stared at it, confused at the lack of fire. "Why didn't it work?" he asked himself.

If he could use his fire to become a Super Saiyan, then creating it should be just as easy. That gave him an idea: what if he tried to create fire like he did with his own ki? It was definitely worth a shot in his eyes.

Closing his eyes, he looked deep within himself. He concentrated on his inner fire, slowly molding it to how he wanted it to wield it. Snapping his eyes open, he cocked his fist back and punched the air again. "HA!" he yelled out.

This time, fire did erupt from his fist but not the way he wanted it to. A giant plethora of bright yellow fire, resembling something that would come out of a flamethrower, streamed forward and lit up an entire tree near him. This had the effect of scaring off a number of creatures and birds, who squealed and squawked in fright.

Gohan stopped, panicking at his foolishness. He ran up at the tree and tried to wave his hands to burn it out. It didn't work and the flames went and grew even larger. "Oh no, how do I stop this? Man, I really went and did it this time," he rambled on.

The flames died down instantly and puffed out of existence out of the blue. Gohan stopped fretting and raised an eyebrow. "Huh...I guess that worked?" he said.

"Fire comes from the breath, young warrior," someone said mysteriously.

Startled to find he wasn't alone, Gohan took a defensive stance and craned his neck side to side. "Who said that? Who's there?" he demanded. Oh how he wished he could still sense energy at this moment.

Snapping twigs and footsteps to his left told him what he had asked. Facing that way, he intently waited for the person to step out of the shadows. A hooded figure came out of the bushes with his hands behind his back and into the open space.

He stopped just short of a few feet in front of him, not making any gesture that would insinuate an attack. "If one yells as loud as a dragon, then the destruction could be just as untold, as you can see," the mysterious figure wisely said and gestured to the charred tree.

Gohan then relaxed and laughed sheepishly. "I guess you're right," he said. The hooded figure seemed to analyze him before taking off his hood. It revealed an old but hardened man with a long, thin mustache and wild hair.

"What were you trying to accomplish here?" the old man asked him, but it sounded more like a command than anything.

Gohan looked at the tree then back to him again. He smiled bashfully. "I was trying to make some fire because I never attempted it before. I guess you can say it backfired," he said, not noticing his unintentional pun.

The old man only nodded. He was silent for a moment before speaking. "It seems you are in need of developing your skills. One cannot hope to achieve mastery over fire by himself. Only a fool would take that path, leading to his eventual downfall," he said wisely.

Gohan nodded back to him, acknowledging his words. "Right, that's what I was going for. Do you think you can help me?" he asked the old man.

The old man stood silent then turned around to walk away, taking Gohan by surprise. "H-hey wait, you didn't-"

"I will teach you firebending on one condition," the old man said to him, his words fading with every step he took away from the Saiyan.

He then figured that this man wanted him follow him where he was going. It didn't take long for Gohan to catch up to him and he stood by the mysterious man's side. "What condition are you talking about?" No response was given as he kept walking with the same tight features on his face.

More attempts to get an answer out of him were futile as they continued walking into the forest and Gohan eventually gave up on it entirely. Eventually, the two males reached another open clearing near a small stream.

But the warriors wearing the straw hats and giving him mistrustful looks was what put him off. Some were sharpening their arrows by huge logs while others just kept watching his every move. Not exactly what he was expecting when he walked in here.

The old man he had met earlier then stopped with his back turned towards him. Gohan noticed this and stopped walking as well. "Okay, now that we're here, could you at least tell me what your name- WOAH!" He was cut off mid-sentence when the surprisingly nimble old man sent a blast of fire straight towards his head.

Luckily, Gohan was able to dodge it in time. Skipping back a few steps, the now-irritated Saiyan put some distance between the two. His expression turned sour and he glared at the old man. "Hey! What's the big idea?!" exclaimed Gohan, taking a defensive stance.

More blasts of fire was what he was answered with. His opponent jumped into the air and got within close range of Gohan. He expertly blocked a chop from the stranger and grabbed a swift underhand punch as well.

Gohan spun him around a few times before releasing him, sending the man flying towards the stream. But he then used his firebending to quickly right himself in the air and landed back down with his two feet.

Using the moment's hesitation to his advantage, Gohan quickly sprinted up to the man and dealt a powerful punch that was blocked by the man's forearm, though it looked like it caused him immense pain. They traded more blows until a slightly mistimed punch meant to uppercut Gohan left his entire torso open.

Gohan drove a knee right below the old man's ribcage with enough force to only knock the wind out of him. A harsh grunt escaped the man and he fell to the ground on all fours, gritting his teeth in obvious pain.

Bringing his knee back, Gohan then stood over his fallen opponent but made sure to keep his guard up for any further attack. So he was genuinely lost when the man suddenly started to chuckle, albeit a little painfully.

Gohan crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. "What's so funny?" he asked.

Getting back up, he clutched his side that was bruised. The old man smirked a bit but not in an arrogant way. "In all of my years of combat, I was never taken down this quickly before," he began. "You asked for my name and so I will honor your request. I am Jeong Jeong and it was an honor to finally meet the Golden Warrior," he revealed, making Gohan's eyes comically bulge out.

Stammering, he took a few steps back. "Wha-what? B-but how did you figure that out?" he shakily asked.

Jeong Jeong grunted a bit in pain. "I found out that you were in Hmong Village when you drove the Fire Nation captain out and defeated all of his men. I followed you out and I saw you change your hair from gold to black," he told the still-fretting boy.

This didn't comfort the Saiyan at all. "Oh man, what am I gonna do when people find out? I'm not gonna be able to go anywhere without being hounded," he rambled on, amusing Jeong Jeong. He found it funny that someone with the power Gohan had would worry about little things like those.

The old master raised a hand, silencing Gohan. "Don't worry, young warrior. I won't tell anyone of your secret, on my honor," he said, earning a sigh of relief from the boy. "Although, I am curious as to how you are able to accomplish such a feat. But I understand you have your reasons to not share that with anyone."

Gohan nodded, glad that the man understood his predicament. He then widened his eyes in realization of what Jeong Jeong had said earlier. "Wait, so this was your condition? For me to prove to you that I was the Golden Warrior?" he asked his senior.

Jeong Jeong nodded, confirming his suspicions. "I saw you change but I had to really see for myself. Seeing your lack of control over fire was what made me do this in the first place. A being with as much power as you do can be as dangerous, if not more, as the Fire Nation itself if not properly handled," he said to him as the Saiyan's eyes lit with understanding.

The old master folded his hands behind his back. "I will train you to master your powers, but only if you accept," he offered.

Gohan momentarily paused to contemplate his decision before smiling. "I accept," he said, bowing to his new teacher.

Jeong Jeong smiled back at him. "Very well. Then let us begin," he said, his face now growing serious. "Widen your stance."

* * *

"Unacceptable, Captain Ryuu!" an officer shouted out. Ryuu winced at the tone his superior used on him.

Ever since he returned to his base after his humiliating defeat, fear of punishment was ripe in his mind. Questions of 'what happened to him' or 'where are his men' arose among the soldiers in the barracks, murmuring among themselves as he trudged along to his officer's quarters. Who was less than pleased as he recounted his recent encounters with the Fire Nation's greatest single enemy as of yet.

His superior continued on, a sneer accenting his chiseled face. "I gave you my finest men to lead, to keep these filthy rats in line, to instill law and order in your region," he was now in the captain's face at this point, nearly shouting. "And somehow, you manage to botch this up. All because of some supposed 'spirit'. Bah!" he spat out. Ryuu stayed silent, knowing whatever he would say next would be used against him in some way.

The officer kept his stern eyes on him for a little longer, before backing away and turning around. "Men of your position are expected to fight any threat to the Fire Nation because your honor rests on that and that alone," he stated, almost sounding rehearsed. "Anything less makes you a disgrace in the eyes of your countrymen, your officers, and most importantly the Fire Lord."

Ryuu's breath hitched at that. It was one thing for him to be reprimanded, but for his honor and undying loyalty to the crown be tainted by this failure? No, he wouldn't stand for it.

The captain took one knee and bowed his head. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Forgive me, commander. I know I have brought shame to my position, but I believe that I can redeem myself," he said cryptically.

His commander did not fully turn around but craned his neck to the side so his eyes could be seen. "Oh do tell Ryuu. Because it had better be a worthier explanation that the one you gave me earlier," he warned his inferior.

Ryuu kept his eyes on the ground but a smirk etched itself on his face. "I have good reason to believe that this Golden Warrior is not a spirit, but a mortal just like the rest of us," he revealed slowly.

The officer didn't seem to understand what he was getting at. "Stop beating around the bush and spit it out," he sneered.

Ryuu's smirk didn't falter one bit. "That means, Colonel Shin, that this being can be _killed_ ," he said the last part with emphasis.

His commanding officer's eyes widened and spun around to face Ryuu. "What did you just say?" he exclaimed, shocked apparent in his tone.

Ryuu's smirk widened.

* * *

 **Sorry for the long wait for this chapter but I had a couple things going on that made me lose my focus for a while. I know that this will have some similarities with 'Dragons of the Sapphire Flame', specifically the one part with Jeong-Jeong but I assure you that the similarities will end here with this chapter.**

 **Have a Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Enjoy your time off today with your friends and family!**


	7. I: Wanted

**Arc I. A New World**

 **Chapter 7: Wanted**

* * *

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Gohan repeated that basic exercise with his eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the sun and drawing power from it, getting accustomed to that feeling over the past few weeks. It was a strange thing to get used to, drawing power from something other than himself. Like the power within him wasn't actually his to begin with.

"Get ready, pupil."

Hearing his master's words prompted him to finally open his eyes, allowing him to see Jeong Jeong in a traditional stance for firebending. So, he thought, he should respond in kind. With one arm held straight in front of him and the other held close to his abdomen, he was ready to show him what he had to offer.

He waited in anticipation for anything to start the spar, one signal to get the ball rolling. It took a few moments, but he heard someone stepping on a twig nearby, giving him all the reason to make the first move. The Saiyan punched a fist forward, letting out a stream of bright yellow fire that made its way over to the opponent.

Jeong Jeong quickly countered that by sidestepping the flame, twisting his frame around to gain control of it, and sent it back directly to Gohan. He crossed his arms to brace for the fire and quickly dispersed it, uncrossing his arms doing so.

Not wanting to lose momentum, Gohan swiped his leg across to send a horizontal arc of fire at his master. He followed up with that with another fire blast by punching his fist forward.

"HAAA!" He yelled out, putting out another wave of fire that was sent hurling towards Jeong Jeong. Said master narrowed his eyes, and rolled out of the way of the arc of fire and he swiped both of his arms down to disperse the rest of the flames sent towards him.

Jeong Jeong immediately took advantage of Gohan's decision to let up and he swiped his feet, sending flames at his pupil's feet. This was enough to tip Gohan over and make him lose his balance.

Before he could right himself though, it was too late. The firebending master sent one final blast of fire that knocked the Saiyan off of his root and he fell backwards to meet the ground.

Gohan rubbed his backside. "Ow...guess I messed up again, huh?" He looked up to see his master approach him, with his arms crossed behind his back.

Jeong Jeong scowled. "Pupil Gohan, how many times have I told you not to keep shouting that loud when firebending?" he asked the boy, who just laughed sheepishly. The elder simply shook his head. "If you keep this up, I might just have to double your breathing exercises," he warned.

Gohan scratched his head. "Sorry about that, master. I keep forgetting about that part," he laughed. It was just a habit for him to yell out before attacking so it was really difficult to break out of it.

Said master shook his head again, but with a small smile on his face. "I'll overlook it for now, Gohan. Your progress over the past few weeks in your firebending training more than makes up for it," the master said with pride in his tone. His pupil beamed at his praise and gave a nod to him. "You're just one step closer to reaching the mastery of firebending by my observations," he added.

That much was true, Gohan had soaked up the teachings of Jeong Jeong like a sponge in no time at all. Moves and techniques that would have taken normal people years to even grasp were done and executed perfectly by the half-Saiyan in a few weeks time.

It was a good thing he was what most people would not consider normal, he supposed.

Gohan got up off the ground and wiped his backside to clear it of any dirt. He looked towards the master and he gave a small bow. "Thanks Master Jeong Jeong, I really hope that-"

"Hey! Jeong Jeong!" another voice called out.

The Saiyan was interrupted by a man who was named Chey. He came out of the forest and into the clearing where he stopped to catch his breath, placing his hands on his knees for added support.

Gohan and Jeong Jeong just glanced at each other, both confused on what he was here for. Clearing his throat, Jeong Jeong decided to address this. "What are you doing Chey? What is going on?" he asked him.

Chey finally caught his breath and stood up straight. "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I have some important news," he began, while giving a quick glance at Gohan. "But I was wondering if we could speak in private about this," he requested of the master.

Gohan raised an eyebrow at that action. What was so important that he wasn't supposed to hear? He supposed it was really none of his business anyway, so he didn't dwell too much on it.

The old master stroked his beard as he was in deep thought for a moment before he looked to the Saiyan. "Very well. Gohan, keep doing your breathing exercises until I return," he commanded him.

Gohan nodded as he watched them leave into the forest, fading out of sight. He stood there for a moment before shrugging, sitting in a lotus position near the bank of the river and closed his eyes to meditate on the Sun's warmth.

It was strange to be a firebender, but at the same time he had to keep it a secret. In his travels, he had learned who the aggressors were in this terrible war - the Fire Nation - and he was doing his best to drive them out of these innocent people's homes but it was a shame that he had to be given the element of fire by that giant creature.

It was like all of the recent events were meant to test the Saiyan, just like how almost everything was in his life. First he lost to Bojack, then he lost his powers, then got stranded in some strange world far away from his family and friends, and now he was learning how to master an element that was associated with the most dangerous nation on this planet.

But he couldn't let all this bring him down. No way he was ever going to give up, that's just not the way he was raised.

It must have been a while since Jeong Jeong left because the Sun was beginning to descend in the horizon. Gohan opened his eyes and looked around to see if the old master had returned, but there was no sign of his presence.

Gohan scratched his head. "Huh, that's weird. Where did he go?" Deciding that he had done enough meditating for the day, he got up off the ground and began walking back to the camp.

Reaching the encampment, he sees the other tribesmen doing their own tasks, from sharpening arrows to just simple meditation. But it was his master he was looking for so he went for the large shelter by the banks of the river.

Once he approached it, he saw that the door was slightly creaked open. Never one to decline an open invitation to enter, he was just about to do that when he overheard two people speaking in there: Chey and Jeong Jeong.

Gohan scratched his head in bewilderment. _'They're still talking? Gee, this had to be pretty important,'_ he thought to himself. A part of him wanted to leave and let the two continue talking but another part wanted him to stay and eavesdrop a little, out of sheer curiosity.

The Saiyan shook his head. "No, I gotta go. It wouldn't be right," he said in a volume that only he could hear. But in the end, his curiosity won and allowed him to crane his head so his ear would pick up more of the conversation.

"-think _he_ will be coming to the Fire Days Festival?" his master questions, but it comes out more like a statement.

"Yes sir. His movements just make it all too obvious that he will appear this afternoon...well, I mean, going off of what the spies told me, I guess," he heard Chey say. For some reason, Gohan thought he could almost hear him shrug.

Focusing back to the conversation, he leaned closer. "I understand that but I wish to question what your intentions are with him. Are you suggesting that we should take him in?" Jeong Jeong asked in a leveled tone.

 _'Who are they talking about?'_ Gohan pondered in his mind.

"Uh...kinda yeah. That was the idea sorta floating around in my head," Chey answered his superior.

"Then I hope your head can produce more realistic ideas because you can forget about that one," the firebending master said in a low tone.

"But Jeon-"

"And that's the end of it! I forbid you from bringing the Avatar to this camp! How do you know Zhao himself won't be right at his tail with the army by his side?!" Jeong Jeong suddenly shouted.

Gohan flinched a bit, never having heard the master raise his voice like that at anyone. But that title...Avatar. _'Now where have I heard that before?'_ He could've sworn he had heard it in passing before and it almost rang a bell. Nevertheless, he listened on to the conversation.

"But Jeong Jeong hear me out, please! It's the perfect chance to introduce the young boy to firebending but most importantly, we could show him that not all firebenders are out to get him after a hundred years," Chey pleaded.

But the old master would not hear anymore of it. "That is enough, Chey. I will not hear another word of this. This conversation is over," said with finality, Jeong Jeong managed to cease the younger man's ramblings.

He heard Chey sigh. "Okay, I guess you're right." But then the man started to walk towards the flap of the entrance. Gohan froze, planning to walk away but the master beat him to the punch.

"And while you're walking out, allow my pupil Gohan to enter as I'm sure he wants to know everything," Jeong Jeong said in a loud enough voice, obviously directed at him.

"...crap baskets," Gohan muttered as Chey walked out, looking dejected until his gaze fell on the Saiyan.

He looked surprised to see him right outside the bunker, but he cleared his throat. "Hey man, Gohan, uh Jeong Jeong kinda-"

Gohan cut him off as he began to walk inside. "Thanks but I already heard him." Opening the flap of the entrance, he saw the master waiting for him expectedly while giving that 'seriously?' look.

Jeong Jeong cut right to the chase. "I thought I told you to keep meditating," he said sternly. The candles in the room seemed to grow brighter as he pronounced each word.

The student could only look at the ground. "Sorry master, I didn't know when you'd be back and I just wanted to make sure everything was alright here," was all he could say as a reply. He continued to stand in place but decided to look back up to meet his eyes. "I was wondering..."

"Who the Avatar is?" Jeong Jeong finished for him. Gohan nodded in confirmation.

Jeong Jeong seemed to consider his next words. "Very well. What do you wish to know, pupil?" he asked plainly, pleasantly surprising the Saiyan.

 _'I have no clue what to ask, not that I thought I'd get this far,'_ he thought in his head. If he was being honest with himself, he didn't even know why he was even bothering with this. It didn't really concern him either way, but for some reason something inside him was compelling him to gain some knowledge about this Avatar. After all, the mention of this being got such a powerful reaction out of his usually calm master that it had to be important.

After some thought, he decided to go in simple. "Well...who is this guy in the first place? I think- no, I know- I've heard this name before somewhere," he began earnestly.

Jeong Jeong then chuckled. "You truly are from another world," sighing, he began his explanation. "The Avatar is the most powerful being in our world. Normally, you'd encounter people who can bend one element or none at all. But the Avatar...has the power to control all four elements," he revealed, capturing Gohan's attention even further.

"The most powerful being in the world," Gohan repeated as a mumble. That did sound like something he heard in his travels but there was still a question hanging around in his mind. "You mentioned him returning after a 100 years?" he suddenly remembered.

The master closed his eyes for a moment and slowly nodded. "Yes that is correct. One hundred years ago, on the eve of the Great War, he disappeared without a trace. The world long believed that he had perished at the hands of the Fire Nation and the Avatar became a myth as the decades went on, until now of course." The way he described this person made it sound like he was a pretty big deal to Gohan.

"It sounds like he was a pretty important person. Did a lot of people look up to the Avatar?" Gohan asked.

Jeong Jeong sighed and nodded. "Yes, he was the most influential person in all of history. The only one who could restore balance and peace to the world. His disappearance shot whatever morale the rest of the world had at the time, leaving the Fire Nation to pursue their wicked ambitions," he explained somberly. "A fully realized Avatar would have been powerful enough to defeat the Fire Nation at the time as well."

The Saiyan's brow shot up in surprise, clearly not expecting that fact to be revealed. A person from this world...powerful enough to defeat a whole nation?

The elder man continued. "Now that he has returned, the possibility of that happening is very real. The Avatar was a beacon of hope to the world and his return has sent shock waves throughout the world," he said. Looking straight at the boy, he went on. "Even when you appeared under your alias, it was enough to give people some semblance of morale to the people against the Fire Nation," he told his pupil.

Gohan was well aware of that fact. It seemed like everywhere he went as a Super Saiyan, or in this world the 'Golden Warrior', his mere presence was enough to rile people up in joy and hope. His alter-ego's name had spread throughout the lands like a wild fire, according to some talk he heard while traveling.

The Saiyan scratched his head. "So what you're saying is...that all these people need is someone to be a beacon of hope to them?" It made sense, after all. His father was the one person in their whole group of fighters that everyone looked up to and counted on to save the day. Well, maybe everyone except Vegeta.

Nodding, the master let out a sigh. "Yes that is correct. Spirits know that this world has been fractured beyond repair by my countrymen's hands. But once he is ready, you can expect the rest of the world to be right behind him." Looking over at Gohan again, he smiled. "Who knows, maybe you two could be enough to stop them for good."

Gohan chuckled hesitantly. "Well I would but I don't think my time limit would exactly allow that. I've tried to help the best I've could but it'd be best if this Avatar would do it. It doesn't seem right having someone from another world taking care of problems that aren't supposed to be his own," he reasoned.

The Saiyan had long since told his master about his origins, when he tried to get Gohan to think about fighting the Fire Nation head on. The old man was skeptic at first, finding the whole story to be completely outlandish, but just a demonstration of his own abilities was enough to convince him that his student was not of his world as he knew it. It didn't take long for the deserter to understand his situation and he told him he would try and help the boy as much as he could possible.

Jeong Jeong walked up to Gohan and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know Gohan. I am just content with teaching you what I know so that the power you have within you won't be put into the wrong hands," he told him with pride, earning another smile from Gohan.

Before he could say anything else, a rumble echoed throughout the bunker making Jeong Jeong slightly flinch. He was going to ask what had happened, but a quick look at Gohan's sheepish smile told him everything.

He shook his head. "Your appetite will be the death of me," he told him lightheartedly.

Gohan laughed, always finding their reactions to his massive hunger to be hilarious. "Whoops...can I have a bite to eat though? I'm starving!"

* * *

Going through the katas of firebending was not necessarily hard, but after a while...

It would just get repetitive. And boring.

Swiping horizontally across the air one last time, Gohan finally relaxed and did the ending bow before his imaginary opponent. Wiping a small bead of sweat from his forehead, he looked at his surroundings. Or what little surrounded him. He stood at the top of a large mountain miles from the campsite, where he felt like he could see the whole forest from his vantage point. Towns and villages sparsely splattered across the distance seemed so...tranquil.

A view that he came to miss dearly.

Just as the thought came into his head it left, his focus on training returning. Looking at his right hand intently, he clenched it lightly a few times. Perhaps he should kick it up a notch, he thought to himself. With that, he closed his eyes and focused on his inner fire for about a few seconds before abruptly opening them, while at the same time transforming into a Super Saiyan.

If there was one benefit to Jeong Jeong's training, other than mastering firebending, it was that the Super Saiyan transformation came much easier to him now. It did not take him as long to transform like it had before. Heck, he was pretty sure he could transform almost instantly at this point if he really desired to, but there was no situation that had pushed him to do that anyways, so he couldn't be one hundred percent certain.

"Well, let's see what we can do," Gohan muttered as he began to kick and punch away through thin air. His speed and agility was in tip-top shape - well, as tip top as it can be with his power restrained, that thought causing him to let out a small flame as he completed a punch - and he was still decently strong.

Wallowing over the loss of his powers wouldn't get him anywhere; he learned that quickly early on.

After a while, the sun began to dip down the horizon, causing Gohan to halt his session and relax. "I better get back before Jeong Jeong starts worrying," he said to himself. He was about to jump down the mountain but one look at a trail that led to the base of the natural feature stopped him. A casual walk down shouldn't take too long, he reasoned to himself.

As he began his trek, he couldn't help but get lost in his thoughts once more. Like, what really was the point of all this? Sure, training with Jeong Jeong was beneficial to keeping his power in check, but he was more than capable of using his physical strength alone to get by. It didn't seem like there would ever be a time where he would have to use firebending to defend himself from whatever this planet had to offer, however arrogant that might seem.

Nor would firebending help him get back home to where he belonged. Ever since accepting the fact that the dragon balls had not succeeded in bringing him back to his world, his only goal was to find a path that lead him back to his home.

Back to his mother and little brother. His features softened a bit at the thought of his family that was so dear to him.

A chirping sound brought his attention to a birds nest resting on a branch of a large tree. The mother bird had scoured some grub for her children, feeding them gently while at the same time looking out for any threats that might cross them. Gohan smiled a bit at the sight, a perfect metaphor of his own mom that loved him and Goten with all her heart and vice versa.

The stray thought of Bojack getting anywhere near them made him furious, the fact that he was powerless to do anything about it only added to that. He couldn't even know if the space pirate was defeated or not.

He kicked a rock in front of him in stress, the force sending it hundreds of feet away. All in all, this just made his head spin. He couldn't take this situation anymore which meant he had to make a decision soon.

He would have to ask Jeong Jeong to halt his training and send him on his merry way, seeing as there had been no headway at all for the past two months since he left the South Pole. Putting a hold on training was definitely something he wouldn't want to do, but it seems like there was no other option for him.

But even if he did leave, then what would he do? Who would Gohan go to for information on matters like his? The conversation from earlier today with Jeong Jeong came to mind. What if...this Avatar could help him out? Surely someone with the level of power that he had could know a thing or two about magic, judging by what he has seen so far on this world. Clearly this world was just as strange and crazy as his own, just not at the galactic scale that his was.

After all, living over a hundred years must give someone vast amounts of knowledge as well as knowing how to get around if he was that influential. Maybe he'd bring it up later with Jeong Jeong.

Shoving those thoughts to the back of his head, he just decided to soak in the scenery in front of him. It was the little things like this that really eased his mind. It reminded him of all the fun he had in his own backyard back home. The trail in front of him seemed to never end, with the vast forest surrounding it, pillars of rocks that seemed so majestic, animals that scurried around into their burrows and nests, trees with wanted posters of him, the richness of the...

"Wait, trees with wanted posters of me?" Gohan halted in his tracks and came across a parchment glued to a tree with a Fire Nation emblem that had a surprisingly well drawn sketch of him in his Super Saiyan form. But they made have a mean looking face with his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth opened as wide as it could be.

Were these people even trying to be accurate or were they just making fun of him?

Whatever it may have been, that was the least of his concerns. What worried him was the message of the poster. **(*)**

 _ **WANTED**_

 _THE GOLDEN WARRIOR_

 _ALLEGED SPIRIT MAN WHO IS ON A RAMPAGE_

 _WILL DESTROY ANYTHING ON SIGHT_

 _GOLDEN HAIR WITH BLUE EYES AND A MUSCULAR PHYSIQUE_

 _HIGHLY DANGEROUS - APPROACH WITH CAUTION - PREFERABLY IN SKILLED GROUPS_

 _BOUNTY IS 1,000 GOLD COINS DEAD OR ALIVE_

So basically, just lies and propaganda against his efforts is what this was. Gohan continued on to read the message below his bounty, which surprised him because it was a decree straight from the Fire Nation.

 _OFFICIAL DECREE FROM THE FIRE NATION ARMY_

 _IF THE GOLDEN WARRIOR IS READING THIS, TURN YOURSELF IN OR THERE  
WILL BE SEVERE CONSEQUENCES SUCH AS TOTAL ANNIHILATION_

So not only were these Fire Nation monsters spreading lies about him, they were willing to gamble with other people's lives just to get to him. He was not stupid, he knew what the 'total annihilation' part meant and who it concerned.

"Bastards," he cursed in his breath with clenched teeth. It seemed like he would have to try and settle this as soon as he could. Looking back up at the sky, he saw the sun was still in the horizon, giving him all the reason to face these people head on. He could still go and fix this without wasting too much time. Hopefully, this was just something meant to intimidate him - obviously it did not work - and they would back off after a little show of force.

And to do that, he'd need a ride.

Gohan let out a call. "NIMBUS!" The iconic yellow flying cloud swooped from the sky and parked itself right in front of him. Gohan smiled and patted the top of the cloud. "Been a while, buddy. I missed you," he said.

Jumping on, he took off into the sky, leaving the forest below him. Gohan looked down and narrowed his eyes. "Alright, now where do I go?" he asked himself. He should look for a town or village nearby, he reasoned.

Not too long after he left, a village came into view. A good place to start off and ask a few questions would be nice. "Okay Nimbus, head down outside the village," he ordered the cloud.

Obeying its master, it dipped down from the sky, leaving a bright yellow streak, at high speeds that would normally be lethal for anyone else, but luckily for Gohan he was not that. The cloud stopped a few dozen feet outside the village wall near the edge of the forest.

Walking off the cloud, he quickly surveyed his surroundings. A quaint little village on its own did not seem too troubled. But something that sounded akin to a crowd reached his ears, but he could not see it at all. He jumped up and landed on top of a huge tree right behind him. Squinting his eyes, Gohan saw a number of troops and barracks set up right outside the village entrance, which was all the way on the other side where he was from.

"Now what to do?" he muttered to himself as he put a finger over his chin. He could just walk up to them and try to reason with them to leave the village alone, or he could speed blitz and knock out the troops in the city with a swift chop to the neck... "First one it is," he said aloud. It couldn't be too hard, right? It was a hit or miss if he was being honest with himself. Some soldiers he could reason with, others had pushed him to use force against them.

Propelling himself off the tree, he landed on one of the rooftops on the outskirts, slowly crawling to avoid attention. But he couldn't help but notice certain features about this village. It was as if he had been here before, it seemed too familiar to him. The buildings, the vendor shops, and the houses themselves. No matter how much he tried, this sense of deja vu would not go away.

And for that matter, where were the villagers? He raised his head a little bit and found that the streets of this place were completely barren. It was as if everyone simply disappeared.

He shook his head. There were more important things to be thinking about instead of figments of his imagination. Like, finding people he could talk to. Then he saw them: a few soldiers, ten to be exact, talking amongst each other by the corner of a little shop.

It was go time.

He jumped off the roof and landed on the ground with little noise. Walking up behind one of them, he tapped the man on his shoulders. The soldiers, minus the one, became dead silent at the sight of the golden haired boy. They were even visibly shaking and were too scared to tell their friend who was behind him.

Turning around, he was visibly annoyed. "What do you want now you-" he abruptly stopped and a look of panic crossed his face.

Gohan tried to placate them by putting his hands up in the air. "Hey, wait a minute. I just want to talk-"

"MEN! I NEED M-!" he yelled out as loud as he could.

Okay, it was time for Plan B. Before the man could say anything else, Gohan chopped him on the neck, rendering him unconscious as he fell to the ground with a hard thud. An apologetic look crossed his face before his attention was brought back to the rest of the men, who he might add, were trembling in their boots.

Clearly, it was time to put on his mean face. Crossing his arms, he looked expectedly at them. "Can I talk now?" he asked them rhetorically. None of them objected, so he continued.

He furrowed his brow. "Listen, I'm not trying to start anything with you guys. I just need you to take me whoever's in charge around here," he demanded of them. It didn't seem like none of them would even respond with a single word, making him groan internally.

But one soldier, a stocky man sporting a goatee and a spear, was brave enough to raise his voice. "Wh-why should we listen to you? You-you're an enemy of the F-Fire Nation," he said rather timidly as the rest of his peer nodded shakily in agreement, their backs straightening up a little.

The Golden Warrior didn't hesitate to answer. "Because you're putting other peoples' lives at risk just to get to me, that's why. So why don't we just cut all the nonsense and cut straight to the-"

"HAAA!" Unfortunately, his reply was cut off the same brave soldier suddenly charged at him, his spear pointing straight at him. His sudden charge convinced his other peers to follow suit with the thought that their combined numbers would give them the edge they would need, right?

Wrong. Gohan shook his head and assumed a light stance. He quickly dodged the first assault from each of the men when they struck their spears at him. He grabbed a spear out the hands of one man, making him lurch forward. With one quick motion, the Saiyan instantly struck him in the cranium of the skull with the dull end, instantly knocking him out.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Gohan twisted to swing the spear horizontally, knocking about seven of the soldiers charging at him to the ground, stacked on top of each other. He turned the other way to see another spear millimeters from impaling his skull, but that itself was questionable. He bent his back backwards and he landed on one hand. Using one leg to stay on the ground, he kicked his leg up to knock the spear out of the man's hands.

Flipping backwards and landing on his two feet, he didn't waste any time as he punched the man in his solar plexus, sending him flying a few feet straight through a little shop that didn't look like it had anyone in it.

Gohan held that position for a moment before relaxing. Glancing to his right he saw that there was still one more soldier left, but he was left quaking in his boots, while still facing his spear towards him. Facing him completely, his stare bore into the man's eyes, making him backpedal until he saw he reached an alleyway between two stores. With a set jaw, he took a few steps towards the terrified man.

This little action made any courage slip altogether as he dropped his spear and clasped his hands, dropping to his knees. Gohan stopped in his tracks and widened his eyes, unnerved at the display of terror. Looking at him closer, the Saiyan saw that he did not look much older than he was plus a few facial hairs, maybe even the same age, and they seemed about equal in height. An uncomfortable feeling of guilt erupted in him as his own features became less hardened.

The poor guy's jaw was even shaking for crying out loud. "W-wait please! Don't hurt me please! I-I was just following orders, you have to believe me! I didn't do anything at all!" The guy cried out in desperation.

Okay, this was really bad. There was no way this guy would be acting, his eyes just gave all of his fear away. Gohan knew that the Fire Nation soldiers feared him, but never in his time here did he think it would be this deep. Usually when they realized they were outmatched, they just ran away.

It was time for a change.

He resumed taking steps towards the soldier, who widened his eyes and blocked his head with his arms when Gohan outstretched a hand. A few moments passed before the man opened his eyes to see Gohan still having his hand outstretched.

A reassuring smile crossed his features. "It's okay. I won't do anything, I promise," he said calmly, waiting in anticipation to see what the soldier would do. A few more moments passed before he slowly lowered his arms and grabbed his hand hesitantly.

Gohan lifted him off the ground and onto his feet, but he saw that the other guy made sure he took a few small steps back in haste. He gave him another smile again. "Hey listen. I'm not going hurt you at all. Can you just hear me out?" he asked again calmly. It took a few seconds, but he did get a nod in return.

He sighed in relief. "Thank you...what's your name?" he asked the other man as politely as he could while gesturing for him to speak.

The young soldier merely gulped and he stood straight up. "M-my name is Liang...sir," he added quickly.

Gohan nodded. "Okay Liang, I just need to know a few things. Starting with what exactly the Fire Nation doing here? And on that topic, where are all of the villagers that live here? What did you do with them?" Gohan demanded with a bit of authority in his voice.

Liang looked uncomfortably to the side, seeming to contemplate whether he should be saying anything in the first place. But Gohan's mere presence steered him to just answer his question. "Well...I don't really know everything, but I can say that I know that it has all to do with you," he began with a slight stutter.

Gohan furrowed his brow. "Right, I saw the wanted posters," he commented, remembering the parchments glued to so many trees in the forest.

The Fire Nation boy cleared his throat. "Y-yeah, the army has been here for about three weeks now, but my regiment was called here last week. As for why you don't see anyone else but us soldiers on the streets...every villager has been on house arrest because of the declaration of martial law that came from the higher ups a while back," he revealed, clearly surprising Gohan who was expecting the worst.

He took a moment to let that soak in and was relieved that nothing overly horrible had happened to the innocent people here. But their lives were still in danger as long as these bullies were still here, the constant threat of destruction looming over them as long as he was not in their clutches. It was just unacceptable in his eyes.

"All of this...just to get to me," he mumbled to himself, shaking his head in disappointment. But Liang's summary of their presence made him ponder on another thought. Someone had to be pretty driven to have all of this set up just to get to him, right?

"So...um," Gohan's thought were cut off when he saw Liang glancing back and forth between him and the street. "If that's all you wanted to know, could I...you know? Just leave now?" he asked timidly, a bit of hope in his expression.

It was snuffed when Gohan shook his head. "Not just yet Liang. You said something about the higher ups that had planned this whole thing out. I just need you to take me to whoever is running this whole...operation," finding the right word for all this was not hard, but he had to get his point across in the right way.

Widening his eyes, Liang looked like he was about to backpedal, obviously not wanting to declassify _that_ information to him. Thankfully, there was no squealing or hesitation in the soldier's voice this time. "I can tell you who is the leader of all this...but I can't tell you where he is," the other male confessed. "His orders, not mine," he added quickly when he saw the confused look on the vastly more powerful being in front of him.

"Well then who is he anyway?" Gohan started off with. If he wouldn't tell him where to find this guy, that was fine. He would just have to search for himself.

The name he heard next came as a surprise, and not the kind he'd feel happy about.

Liang looked away from his gaze. "Captain Ryuu."

Well, at least he knew right away where he should be looking.

* * *

It was about to time to make his move.

Gohan walked along the main road of the village, as casually as he could while he was still in his Super Saiyan state. He glanced at some of the buildings as he walked by them. The ducked heads of some people were visible, but some were brave enough to look out and see the supposed mythical being in all his glory instead of Fire Nation soldiers, locking eyes with some of them for a moment.

The steps he took kicked up a little dust on the dry dirt road. His destination? The army of troops stationed right outside the village, completely unaware of what had just happened within the village walls.

He knew he was close enough to the troops outside, as his unique frame was clearly visible now to one of them, whose jaw-dropped at his sight. Smacking his fellow soldier upside the head, he yelled in his ear. "You dolt! Look, he's here!" The rest of them soon followed his line of sight and saw what the commotion was about.

And remained in place and stayed completely silent, barring a few whispers related to his appearance, dropping whatever they were doing at the moment.

Gohan found that odd because with their numbers, they'd usually attack him on sight or try to run but not today apparently. That was hardly his main concern, though.

Where he wanted to go was right in front of him: the medium-sized barracks straight up ahead, guarded by a few soldiers that were on guard unlike the others. Once he was just several meters away, Gohan stopped in his tracks and crossed his arms.

One of the men went inside through a door and soon enough, the man responsible for this whole operation showed his face. Ryuu gazed darkly at the half-Saiyan as he stepped outside, both of the males standing straight across from each other.

Uncrossing his arms and letting them hang by his side, Gohan decided to speak first. "I'm not going to lie, you're the first Fire Nation person that's showed his face to me twice," said Gohan. _'Yeah, I think that sounded pretty intense'_ , he mentally patted himself. Menacing as he sounded though, Ryuu remained undeterred with a frown on his face. "Leave this place right with all of your men and stop this madness," ordered the Super Saiyan.

How the man in military command reacted though, was not at all what he expected. "Alright, I accept," Ryuu said unexpectedly. Similar reaction were murmured among the troops themselves at this bizarre turn of events.

Gohan nearly did a double take at his response. _'I...didn't think I'd get this far,'_ he admitted to himself. "Oh...well...in that case-"

Ryuu interjected. "But..." Yep, and there was the catch. There was always a catch. "There has been a thought that has been eating away at me for a while now," he began, his features not betraying any of his emotions. "I had always wondered how a being such as yourself wielded so much power...and never knew how to properly use it," he began to pace closer to Gohan.

"Spirits are known as violent beings who can corrupt a human, and kill those who stand in their way, but you possess none of those," sneering, he closed his hands into fists. "A powerful being such as yourself, so disgustingly noble and willing to 'stand' for those village rats...and worst of all, lets his enemies live," he paused, finally within a meter across from Gohan. "Not something any spirit would do."

"Where are you going with this," Gohan asked in return to his monologue.

"I am going to need you reveal your true self to everyone here," he demanded. "Let the world know that you are not a spirit and I'll let you have your way," he said aloud for all to hear.

Once again, louder murmurs erupted within the crowd of soldiers, some finding their leader to be courageous and patriotic to stand up in the face of a incomprehensible power, while most of them thought the opposite and that Ryuu was going to sign their death warrants.

Gohan didn't care for all this and actually found this to be easier than he thought. "Is that all? Just show these people I'm no spirit?" he asked carefully, which Ryuu nodded to confirm. He glanced over both of his shoulders and saw the crowd waiting in anticipation on what he had to say.

If that was all it took, then he would be happy to oblige. No reason to use excessive force when he didn't need to, especially with this amount of troops and artillery. Sighing, he turned to face the crowd while still keeping his guard up in case they wanted to attack him from behind.

Some of the soldier moved around, he observed. A few shifted so they could listen to what he had to say presumably, but others formed a some sort of ring around him...almost as if they were getting in formation. He shook his head - he was getting too paranoid for no reason.

The super hero cleared his throat. "Well, you heard your leader. He thinks that I'm not a spirit and that I'm as mortal as all of you are..." he paused for a moment, then continued. "It's true, I'm no spirit. I am a human, just like you all. But don't you think that it would be obvious they would call me a spirit with how easily I can stop you all at every turn, not just based on how I look," he questioned them. They did not respond to him, only looking away in humiliation.

Gohan stood like that for a few seconds before he turned back around to face Ryuu, who was now smirking widely. Gohan raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you wanted? Now, if you don't mind, tell your troops to back their bags and get out of this whole area," he demanded. He had done his part and now it was time for the leader to do his.

Ryuu kept his smirk, though, a little too long for Gohan's taste. "As you wish, Golden Warrior," he said mockingly. "But I have to say this - your confession does make for an interesting opportunity," there was a hidden malice behind that statement, one that the Saiyan barely caught.

Just as he did though, Ryuu suddenly hardened his features and raised one palm in the air. Gohan was bewildered for a moment before he suddenly understood what he meant. Around him, the soldiers who surrounded him got into their firebending stances and drew their fists back.

Oh. So that's how it was going to be.

Ryuu closed his fist. "FIRE!" On cue, the some four dozen soldiers punched forward, each letting out a stream of fire that immediately engulfed Gohan. The combined streams of fire meeting in the middle where Gohan stood nearly exploded in an inferno, causing the surrounding foot soldiers to take a step back and cover their eyes A plume of fire rose into the sky and bathed the surrounding area in a bright yellow light, as well as sending waves of heat around to raise the air's temperature.

He considered joining in the onslaught just for his own satisfaction, but opted not to in the end. The captain was not born yesterday either - he had a nagging feeling that he had to absolutely make sure this fraud met his end here and now. As they continued to pour their fire into burning Gohan, Ryuu glanced at his right-hand man and gave him a subtle nod. Seemingly understanding his superior, he walked over to a catapult with a few soldiers surrounding it.

Smirking, he turned back to the hellfire in front of him, growing slightly bigger and hotter by the second. "Don't let up yet!" He knew they had been attacking for about 20 seconds now - overkill for any regular man, but this was someone unlike anyone the Fire Nation...save for the Avatar, and there was no shame or harm in doing what was needed to secure their place as the number one force in the world. No upstart golden boy would take it from them either, and he intended to make sure of that.

He heard a something snap a distance away behind him and moments later, a giant flaming boulder added itself to epicenter of destruction, hurling down to exactly where Gohan was supposed to have stood and landed with a resounding boom. The shock wave that resonated gave the firebenders to halt their attack and step back from the flaming site, bring their arms around their head to block the heat wave. The firebenders made their way over to Ryuu's side and stood behind him in proper formation.

Once the heat started to subside, Ryuu dropped his arms as well. One of his inferiors walked up to him and watched the massive fire alongside him. "It is finally done," was all the subordinate had to say to him. "The Golden Warrior is no more!" he proclaimed for all to hear. Slowly but surely, cheers rang through the ranks of the entire unit stationed. Caps and hats were thrown into the air in celebration, their number one enemy for so long was finally defeated.

All except the leader himself. The flames were still burning hot and bright, he noted, but there was something odd going on. Ryuu squinted his eyes. Something was definitely off; the outline of the spherical rock was still visible, albeit a little blurred. Normally, they'd have exploded on impact so this unnerved him a little.

"Sir, you see it as well don't you," one of the men behind him asked, a firebender.

Ryuu said nothing at all to confirm his rhetorical question. He simply turned and said, "Make sure you all are ready for retreat." Turning his head back, his suspicions came true.

The raging inferno in front of them suddenly started to swirl in a ring, catching the attention of most of the soldiers and bewildering them. As the fire condensed, it grew even brighter than it ever was and before they knew it, a lone figure could be made out through the flames.

Continuing to swirl and get smaller, it eventually grew so hot that the fire itself was no longer yellow. Its color shifted to a very bright blue color, catching even Ryuu off guard as well as the rest of the army.

"I'm not done yet," Gohan's voice rang out. A raging blue flame now rested on one palm, while the big spherical boulder rested atop his other palm with his arm outstretched upward. Most of the dust and grass was burnt to a crisp, but there was a small circular patch of grass underneath him that was not ravaged by the flames.

He skimmed over the crowd around him. Looks ranging from shocked to totally fearful were present, but Gohan paid no heed to that. He glanced at Ryuu, who also looked shook as well. "Here, you dropped something," he said sarcastically. Arching back, he did an overhand throw and chucked the boulder. It went past the firebenders, who ducked on instinct, and struck the barracks building. It smashed right through the whole building and the walls plus ceiling came crashing down.

Gohan saw the panicked look on Ryuu's face, who stepped back when their eyes met. He then eyed the powerful flame in his hand, curious as to why this fire was blue. "That's pretty weird," he muttered to himself. He could tell this fire was much hotter than regular fire; of course, knowing why that was the case didn't confuse him, having known all about thermodynamics already.

Shaking his head, he looked back up to Ryuu. The captain's breath hitched. "Y-you're a firebender?!" he exclaimed. It seemed like the others had just caught on at the same time he did and were as equally shocked as he was.

That was a mistake on his part. He didn't meant to let that slip but it was too late to do anything about it now. Gohan had already dropped his act already so what was a little deeper revelation about his powers?

Clearly, it was enough to have Ryuu try to pull off a last ditch effort. "ATTACK NOW!" It took a while for them to snap out of whatever state they were in, and they charged at him with full speed. Well it would't work and decided to do a bit of an overkill of his own.

Subtly glancing at his flame, he examined it momentarily. "Hope this does what I think it will," he said to himself. Crouching down a bit to gain momentum, he waited until the soldiers were within 10 feet of him on all ends, and he jumped high in the air. They all halted in their tracks, some crashing right into each other.

When Gohan got enough height, he dove back down and punched the ground as hard as he could. The consequence was staggering: a deafening shock wave rang through the area, the impact causing both the ground to crack under the sheer force behind the punch and sent the soldiers tumbling a few feet. A solid wave of fire followed very shortly, pushing the massive crowd of men even further away.

Among all of them, Gohan stood tall and put his foot down. "Now, are you going to leave this place, or do we have to continue knowing what the outcome will be?" he questioned.

Thankfully, it was the former. Not even bothering to make they didn't step on anyone, most of the men got up and ran like their lives depended on it, carelessly trampling over each other. Gohan cringed a bit when he saw that, feeling a little guilty for some of them. He continued to watch as they retreated further from the town.

They packed each other on every komodo-rhino they managed to get their hands on, and soon most of the area was cleared, save for a few soldiers that unfortunately got left behind and had to flee on foot.

When the last of them vanished out of sight, Gohan let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. "Finally," he said aloud. Looking at his surroundings though, he couldn't say the same about the landscape. So many trees were charred, undoubtedly due to the Fire Nation's activity, and small little fires still burned at their tops, making the plumes of smoke visible for miles around.

Adding onto the damage was the ground itself. The natural grass was no more, as it had been burnt to a crisp and reduced to ashes on the earth. Though, the argument could be made that he was equally as responsible, making Gohan clench his fists in anger.

He couldn't let this get to him though, he thought to himself and he slowly relaxed. There was still more left for him to do, turning around to face the village. The people of the village had to be told that they were now safe from their presence and would be in peace once more.

Though, even he couldn't tell if that would hold for long.

* * *

It occurred to Gohan that the villagers were frightened out of their minds. Incredibly frightened.

He couldn't blame them, he supposed. What, blazing infernos, flaming rocks, and deafening shock waves, it would put even the most fearless men on edge for a little. The worst part about it was that there were women and children here that had to see that...or well, here what had transpired so close to them.

The sun had nearly set at this point, as dusk passed. As he walked into the village, he saw two or three heads peeking out of their doors, but only barely. One head popped out more noticeably than the rest as he walked closer to the neighborhood. He was an old man, who walked with a limp as he trudged out of his house with a cane, now stood outside his home to see there were no Fire Nation soldiers present.

Slowly but surely, more and more people decided to walk out of their homes after they saw the old man still stand with no one around to tell him otherwise. People filled the streets for the first time in weeks and multiple cheers rang out as neighbors encountered and conversed with one another. Guys shook hands, kids chased each other, and the women hugged each other.

Gohan smiled as he stood in place, not wanting to ruin this picture perfect moment one bit. Kind of ironic that this world had technology nowhere close to anything like a camera, but the point still stood in his mind.

His job here was done. He turned to leave, but just as he did, he heard a kid's voice cry out. "Hey, it's the Golden Warrior again!" At that, the villagers turned to him and immediately cheers erupted as they saw him turn around with a smile.

 _'I don't think I'll ever get used to this,'_ he thought to himself as he waved to them awkwardly, a sheepish smile on his face. "Hi everyone," he said lamely. Another cheer rang out along with chants of the usual 'Golden Warrior!'.

"Please help us!" a child's voice cried out.

"Those monsters took my son!" another woman spoke out as well.

The crowd quieted down after several dozen people made their way through the crowd and ran up to Gohan. There were many concerned and still terrified people here, which confused him a bit. There had to be at least two or three dozen of the concerned people, by what he could see. He tried to placate them down as they swarmed him by waving his hands a little bit.

It seemed to work as they calmed down a bit. "Okay everyone, let's try to relax. What's the problem here?" he asked as politely as he could. Instead of a direct answer, all he got was more shouting that was drowned out by the crying and weeping, making it all the more confusing to him.

One voice did ring out and it was not what he expected. "They took them!" a girl screamed. Instantly the crowd parted to reveal a girl with her eyes closed and fists clenched. She was wide eyed when she saw that everyone had abruptly stopped talking and became a little red.

He squinted a bit. Strange, only thing was, this girl seemed familiar to him. Gohan reached out to her. "What do you mean they took them? What are you talking about?" he questioned her. More murmurs were voiced as she stepped forward.

She cleared her throat. "W-well, the thing is, the Fire Nation came here a few weeks ago and they locked us inside our houses. But..." she sniffled and looked away for a second, getting emotional. "They took a lot of our families from us too and we don't know what happened to them." Many other voiced their sentiments as well, agreeing with the young girl.

The girl was breathing heavy. "They even took my father, Yin. You were here a few weeks ago when you saved our lives," she shakily let out.

It then hit him like a train. He had been here before and that way why this whole place seemed so familiar to him. And for that matter, she was right. He had distinctly remembered saving an old man and his daughter, and their names were Yin and...Miyuki? It was something he could ask at a later time.

But this was a predicament Gohan had not been prepared to be placed in. Whole families just kidnapped by the Fire Nation for what reason? What purpose did this even serve? Combined with the fact that all of these people looked to him as their 'hero' or something like that, it placed a lot of pressure on him right then and there. Usually when there was a problem that the Fire Nation caused, he could simply punch through it or scare it off with a show of force. But this would have him go about his way to find those innocent people, because there was no way he could let this slide, especially not from a crooked guy like Ryuu.

The various sorrow-filled features of the crowd spoke more to him than words ever could. He took a small breath and exhaled. What he was about to do would probably end up getting him an earful from Jeong Jeong, but at this moment he just didn't worry about it. Putting up a hand to get everyone's attention, he spoke. "Listen, everyone. I'll do my best to get all of your loved ones back to you as safely as I can," promised the young boy. "You can count on it," he added with more conviction.

The girl in front of him voiced what almost everyone was thinking. "How are you going to do that?" she asked him, fidgeting a bit in place.

That was a good question. For starters, he did not even know where to start looking for these people in the first place. They could be anywhere for all he knew.

And then he remembered - there was still _that_ guy he told to wait for him until he got back. Hopefully his word was enough to keep him in place.

It was just enough to get a lead about this whole thing and that was good enough for him. He smiled at them, and put up a lone finger. "I know just the person to help," he said, bewildering the villagers about what he meant.

* * *

It was hard remembering where in this place he had told him to stay put, as he searched alleyway after alleyway. It didn't seem like he would just run off, considering how still he sat on a crate when Gohan had departed.

He passed another alley, quickly skimming it before the warrior halted and took a step back. There he was, just pacing back and forth, muttering something to himself but quieted when their eyes met.

Liang let out a shaky breath and went straight to the point. "Can I _please_ go now," he begged comically.

Gohan just gave him an apologetic look and put a hand on his shoulder. "Actually, about that...I'm going to need your help with something," although it was a request, it came out as a demand.

The young soldier's head drooped. "Alright...what do you need?" he muttered softly, but Gohan heard it clear enough.

He gave him a big smile, one that put Goku's to shame. "We're going to raid a Fire Nation base," he said with plenty of cheer.

That was alarming enough for the soldier to snap his head up in shock. He stared at the Saiyan wide-eyed.

"I'm sorry...we're going to what?!"

* * *

 **I want to start off by saying that this was the single most annoying chapter I had ever dealt with. I had about 10 chapters already written when I wrote this story but past chapter 6, I felt like it was too complicated to read even for myself.**

 **So what I decided to do was just scrap all the chapters I wrote past chapter 6 and make myself an outline of where I wanted this story to go in an organized way. I now write a complete summary of what occurs in one chapter before I write it. It makes life much easier and I know what has to be written beforehand.**

 **That aside, there is only one more chapter left in this arc and then we move on to the good stuff!**

 **Anyways, what did you guys think of the chapter itself? Give me some constructive criticism! It helps me out a lot when my mistakes are pointed out so I do not repeat them in the future.**

 **Let me know in the review box below!**


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